ChaPow!
by pineapplegoddess
Summary: Mitra has always been in the middle of her parents bickering. While in Borneo she quits her family and runs off. She then meets Bill Johnson, the captian of the Bloody Mary. Based off of Anacondas: Hunt for the Blood Orchid. My Indonesian sucks, so sorry!
1. Leaving the Parents

**Authors Note: So I love Johnny Messner and I actually like the movie Anacondas. So I wrote this, some of the chapters are smaller than I would like them to be but thats just how they are. I hope you enjoy and please review!**

"Mitra get in the car lets go!" my fathers voice boomed through the silent store.

"Dad I'm ready to go its not me its mom." I said. My parents had stopped talking as soon as we boarded the plane to Borneo. This is how it was though. Ever since I was 16 my parents would talk off and on to each other using me to either talk to the other or to blame me to avoid the other.

"Beatrice come on lets go! I'm going to be late for my meeting!" my fathers voice was even louder than it was the first time. People started to stare. The foreign white people were making a commotion. I rolled my eyes feeling embarrassed. Their fighting had gotten worse when I moved out. The moment I turned 18 I moved in with my friends down the street. See my father traveled for a job. He would take my mom and I once in a while. I went with him this time because I have always wanted to visit Borneo. On the fact I had to travel with the people that drove me out of the house, well I thought I could deal with it.

"Darling have you seen the lamp shade over here? Its beautiful we must have it." my mother said in a calming response to my very frustrated father. It was a big mistake on my part going this time. I mean hell I was 22 you think I would get it by now that my mother and father make you want to pull your hair out if you are around them for more then a couple of minutes. When you were around one and not the other it was very enjoyable but together? I rather pull out my own tooth with no Novocaine.

"Beatrice now!" my father yelled. I could feel myself at the breaking point of their argument. More and more natives started to gather and watch the stereo-typical American couple fighting in there store.

"Gill, really you can be late to your own meeting. Your the boss." she said in the same calm voice. My father let out a frustrated sigh. I rolled my eyes and walked to the car. I grabbed my bag and walked off.

"Mitra, where are you going?" my father asked as I walked away. I turned and faced him.

"I'm done. I'm done being around you two, playing your games, being the girl that was born just so she could be used as a tool in my parents life. I'm 22 years old and I'm done." I said and walked off towards the town we were staying in.

"You'll never make it, darling." my mother yelled as she walked out to see the commotion between my father and I.

"I speak Indonesian better than you two put together!" I yelled back and was too far away to hear their responses. I walked through the market. I had a huge smile on my face. I had finally stood up to my parents.

I walked through the market looking at the food for sale on either side of me. I had a sudden urge for a mango. I looked down the market area a ways and found a pile of mango's for sale. I made my way towards them. I smiled at that man who was standing by the mango's.

"Berapa banyak uang untuk satu mangga?" I asked trying to remember the right words to ask 'how much is a mango.'

"Tiga koma delpan ringgit." the man answered. I stood there for a minute. 3.8 ringgit equaled one American dollar. I nodded and handed the man the money. I was about to grab the mango but I felt resistance. I looked around to the pile to see a monkey grabbing onto the same mango. I laughed to myself. The man noticed the monkey and started to yell scaring the monkey. It ran off into a nearby alleyway. I frowned at the behavior at the man, but I understood why he had to. He would loose money if he didn't.

"Terima Kasih." I said thanking the man. He nodded, as I walked down the same alleyway as the monkey did. I sat down on the ground and pulled out my pocket knife carving into the mango. The juice spilled out onto my hand. I grinned, I loved mango's. If you thought they were good back in the states then you hadn't tasted a real mango. I looked over to my right and saw a familiar monkey making his way to me. I smiled and carved a piece of the mango and held it out to the monkey.

"Hey cutie, want a piece." I said to the monkey. He cautiously made his way to me. He took the piece and ran to the opposing wall of the alleyway. I smiled and laughed a little to myself. It was a white Capuchin monkey. It was so cute, I had always wanted a monkey. I had looked these species up before, I didn't think they lived in Borneo. I took a piece of the mango and ate it. It was so juicy my mouth tingled for more. I smiled again. The monkey came back over and sat on my knee as we shared the mango. I sat and talked to the monkey. Telling it basically my life's story and why I was here. It just sat there and ate giving me looks every now and then for another piece.


	2. Mystery Man

By the time the monkey and I had devoured the mango the sun had started to go down. I frowned with the thought finally dawning on me. What was I going to do? Where was I going to stay? I sighed out loud. The monkey looked at me as if it understood. I smiled at how cute it was. A loud bang echoed through the market area. I glanced around, and stood up. The monkey crawled up my body and rested on my shoulder. I peeked around the corner where the bang was. Everyone seemed to be packing up and leaving. They weren't doing it in a hurry though. It looked as though they were packing up for the night. Then the bang was heard again. I looked to my right. Beyond the river and the jungle on the other side, just above the mountains there was dark menacing clouds making there way towards the town. I let out another sigh. I saw a flash of light then another bang. I was slightly surprised it was lighting, it sounded like a gunshot. I started to walk down the street. It started to rain soaking the poor monkey and I. When I made it to the boat docks the monkey jumped off of me and ran on to a boat I couldn't read what it said it was too dark. I was standing in front of the boat it looked like a dump. I stood there wondering if I should follow or not. _What if it is someone's pet, just returning home? _I thought to myself. A thunder clap slammed into the air. It was so loud the ground shook. I rolled my eyes and sighed. Now I was alone, but there was no way in hell I was going back to my parents. I was about to continue walking when someone called out to me.

"Hey!" a mans voice echoed through the night. Another thunder clap slammed through the atmosphere. I turned around and looked at the boat. A light was on and I could see the silhouette of a man. He turned another light on illuminating the night. I could see him clearly now. He was wearing a white shirt and jeans. His arms looked too small for the shirt. The monkey was sitting on his shoulder. I smiled and shielded my eyes from the rain.

"You brought Kong back?" he asked. I looked confused at him. I could tell by his voice he was an American.

"Kong?" I asked.

"The Monkey." he said like I was suppose to know.

"Oh ya." I said.

"Thanks." he yelled back. I smiled and waved and started to walk again. I didn't really see the man in detail but I did see him. Kind of like the difference of seeing a 3D movie with the glasses and when you take them off. He was handsome. Looked almost military. Both of my grandparents were, that's how I knew. I walked down the street until I came to a bar. I walked in and ordered a water. I sat in the back and went through my bag. Everything was still dry, relief ran through my body. My passport and converted money was in this bag. It also had an extra pair of clothes. One extra pair. _Looks like I get to go shopping tomorrow. _I thought. I drank my water and fumbled through my bag trying to make the time go by.


	3. The Owner of Monkey Kong

I woke up at the same table I was at in the bar from last night. I couldn't believe I slept in a bar. I sat up in the chair feeling the strain from sleeping in such a position. I gathered my belongings and left the bar. I walked along the same area as I did before. The boat that the monkey ran to was still there. I shrugged it off. I walked down the street until I reached a clothes kiosk thing. I walked over and bought a dress and a pair of cargo pants that I was surprised to find. I smiled at the lady as I gave her the money. She was an older woman, when she smiled her face became more wrinkled in joy and life. I left and bought another mango. As I was cutting it up and eating it a familiar face ran up to me. It was the monkey from yesterday. It crawled up my leg and rested on my shoulder awaiting a pieice of mango. I laughed as I cut it a piece and made my way to the boat where it ran to yesterday.

"Kong?... Kong?... Kong?" I heard a man say as I approached the boat. I cleared my throat and he turned around. He was a very muscular man. He was at least 6 feet tall, he almost looked like a bouncer back in the states.

"Hey again." I said as I took a piece of mango and ate it.

"Again?" he asked. His voice was very low and husky.

"Ya, I was the girl who helped this guy find his way back last night." I said giving the monkey a piece of mango.

"He must really like you then." He said disgruntled. The monkey jumped off my shoulder onto the boat. The man turned around and started to fiddle with something. I stood there unsure of what to do. Should I go? Should I stay? If I stay what do I do? The questions floated in and out of my mind. The man turned back around.

"Bill Johnson." He said holding out his hand.

"Mitra Robinson." I said shaking his hand. He had a firm grip. I could tell this man meant trouble by the look I saw in his eyes.

"So, how long have you lived here?" I asked as he turned back around.

"A year or so now." he said grabbing something and putting it in a cubbyhole hole on top. I nodded.

"You can come on if you would like." he said. "You have found Kong twice so I reckon I owe you something for it."

I shook my head as I cautiously got onto the boat.

"Nothing at all, it was my pleasure." I said with a grin. He smiled at me as I got on. He probably thought I looked like an idiot.

"Although I do have one question." I said and waited for him to acknowledge it.

"Why do I live on a shitty boat?" he asked smiling. I laughed.

"Actually no I was going to ask where you got Kong? I didn't think white Capuchin Monkeys were native to Borneo." I said. He looked somewhat surprised.

"Well, he came with the boat." he said. I laughed again.

"Which by the way I can see why you would live on it." I said looking around. It was a piece of shit boat but it was different. I locked eyes with Bill. He looked confused.

"You like the _Bloody Mary_?" he asked shocked.

"Yes. Its yours. No one else. No one can tell you what to do, what to say, how to act. It's yours." I said looking around again. I smiled at it. The man shook his head and walked to the other side of the boat. I reluctantly followed.

"I would offer you something to drink but I don't have anything." he said as he leaned against the side of the boat. I looked out across the river at the Jungle. It was beautiful. I stood there in silence for what felt like hours just staring at the cloudy mountains.

"They really are beautiful." I said as I kept gazing at the jungle.

"Where you from?" the man asked. I looked over at him, he was staring at me.

"The states. Virginia to be exact." I said.

"Just visiting?" he asked.

"I was, I think I might stay." I said. I had been thinking about staying here. Last night at the bar reality hit me. I didn't want to see or talk to my parents. I let out a sigh. I could feel my body get heavier with anxiety. Frustration and a sense of overwhelming washed over me. The muscles in my face fell.

"You look like you need a drink." the man said. I looked at him and smiled letting out a forced laugh.

"I thought you said you didn't have anything?" I asked more or less stated. He in turn let out a forced laugh.

"I don't, but I do know where there is a bar." he said.

"That sounds great." I said with a smile. _What are you doing? You want to get yourself killed? This guy could be the next Jack the ripper! Are you insane? Don't you dare go into that bar with him. _My mind yelled at me in my mothers voice as we walked off the boat.

_Oh no you don't you leave me the hell alone. I need to live my life the way I want to. And if it means being reckless then I will do it. _I thought back at my thoughts. He helped me off the boat as we made our way into town.


	4. Your Hired

We sat near where I had stayed the night before in the bar. It was busier tonight than it was last night. We sat there and drank whatever he had ordered me. I just got done telling him about my parents and how I left them alone.

"So essentially you ran away?" he said as he took a sip of the beer bottle. I think it was beer anyway.

"Not really. 22 year old's cant run away." I said laughing, I was becoming somewhat buzzed.

"So you left your parents and now are roaming the streets of Borneo alone?" he asked. I nodded and drank the alcoholic liquid.

"You know anything about boats?" he asked all of a sudden out of nowhere.

"Nothing really. Back in the states I was still in school. My only job I've had are various cleaning jobs at various companies." I said staring off into the distance. "Why?" I asked as I looked back at him. His smirk could make steal melt, it was simple adorable.

"Do you want to work on the Bloody Mary?" he asked, I was a bit taken back by his question and felt a little reluctant to answer. _Live on a boat with a total stranger? In a foreign place?_

"Don't worry I have another person living on the boat with me. His name is Tran, he's like my assistant. He's also a good friend." He said sensing my relentlessness. I took a moment and mulled it over. I had lived the majority of my life over-analyzed things, mainly because of my parents. I began to nod.

"What would I do?" I asked.

"Clean, cook, anything we need help with. I'll pay you too, mostly with a place to live." he said. I began to nod again.

"You got a deal." I said and shook hands with the stranger that was becoming a friend at a rapid pace.


	5. Month later

I had lived on the _Bloody Mary_ for a month now. I was sure my parents went back to the states and left me here. Good riddance to them. Life living on a boat was different. I spent a good three days cleaning the boat. I promised Bill I wouldn't give it a 'woman's touch', that I would just clean it. Tran had been out and about in the town getting deals, trying to make deals, trying to make money. I had only met him once in the month that I had lived here. Tran and I shared a room but it was basically mine since he was never there. Bill slept in the 'captains chamber' as he liked to call it. All it was is a cot that was next to the controls. When he had 'hired' me he gave me his room and took Trans cot, telling Tran he could bunk with me. I didn't understand why Bill didn't just split the room and bunk with me. I think it was because he liked the privacy.

"Mitra are you ready?" Bill's voice boomed from the dock. We made it a habit once a week we would go get a drink and learn about each other since I still wasn't so keen on being here alone. I was however getting used to it. I liked Bill he seemed like a good guy. He had been in the military , like I though he had been. He didn't talk about it much though. I didn't press on the matter either.

"Ya I'm coming!" I said as I put on a light jacket and walked out of 'my' room. He helped me off the boat and we walked to the bar.

…...

We sat at our usual table and ordered our usual beers. I never ceased to amazing Bill apparently. When I told him that I liked beer he thought I was bluffing and just trying to impress him.

"Did you have a boyfriend back in the states?" he asked me, getting the conversations rolling for the night. We had never talked about relationships before.

"No, I mean I had, had boyfriends. But not at the time I came here." I said taking a swig of my beer.

"How many?" he asked suddently. I busted out laughing almost loosing the beer in my mouth, the desperation in his face was what did it.

"I don't know there were probably 3 or 4 serious relationships if you count high school. Other than that it was the high school games that people play." I said.

"What about you? Did you have any girls?" I asked amused by the topic now. He gave the infamous smirk, and that's when my heart melted. _Oh no! _I thought. _What the hell is wrong with you Mitra! You cant like him. He's basically my boss, landlord, and friend! Plus he was in his thirties, which wasn't that bad._

"I had about 3 serious relationships before I was shipped out." he said taking a sip of his beer, I nodded.

We sat in silence for a moment. Not sure what to say or do. Especially me. I just realized I had those stupid warm fuzzy feelings for him. Truth is I had, had these feelings for a while, I just ignored them until right now.

…...

We sat in a somewhat comfortable silence for a good remainder of the night, well until the beer had totally taken over me.

"So, he broke up with me because his friend told him that being happy wasn't healthy." I said slurring my words. We had gotten back to the topic of ex's. I was currently telling him of my last serious relationship.

"Not even a month later he got married to this bitch. He was an asshole." I said still slurring my words. Bill started to laugh at my story.

"You date assholes." he said between laughs.

"Ya, I like em too." I said looking up at him and taking a swig of my beer. He got the hint and looked at me with the same intensity as I was looking at him.

He leaned in closer, and closer until he was within kissing distance. He leaned in and pressed his lips against mine.


	6. Complications arent so bad

**Authors Note: The movie starts in the next chapter (Chapter 7) I am going to wait for some reviews before I post those ones, so review please!**

I woke up the next morning in my room on the boat with something holding me down to the bed. I strained my neck and saw Bill lying next to me shirtless. A small smile crept on my lips in the memory of last night. We made out in the alley next to the bar until it started to rain then ran drunkenly to the boat and into my room.

His eyes fluttered open revealing his brown eyes that had just a small tint of green, I noticed for the first time since I met him. A small smile crept onto his face as he saw me, making me blush a little for some reason. We laid there in silence for a moment just staring at each other.

"Yo, Johnson I'm back." Tran's voice came from the front of the boat. His footsteps could be heard searching for Bill.

"Bill?" his voice came closer to where Bill and I were. I went to get up and get dressed but Bill stopped me and made me lay back down. I looked at him confused as the door flew open revealing Tran standing there.

"Hello, Tran." Bill said looking over at him and sitting up revealing his bare chest.

"Oh God!." Tran said as he realized what had happened the night before.

"Hi Mitra." Tran said with a sly smile. "I hope this doesn't make anything different between you two cause I will throw you both over board." I laughed into the pillow as Tran left. When I was sure he was gone I lifted my head up to look at Bill. He was looking right at me. I smiled.

"So does this make anything different between us?" I asked him. Tran had brought up a good point. This would make things different.

"Well," he began and settled back into the covers and laid next to me. He moved some hair out of my face. "I want it to change." he said. I looked at him confused. He let out a breath and smiled.

"Do you want to go get some dinner tonight?" he asked. I laughed, this was his turn to look at me confused.

"Why don't I make some in your kitchen that never gets used, and we will see where it goes." I said catching his drift. He smiled and laughed as well at how different he had sounded.

I put my hand on the side of his face.

"Your such a dork." I said and leaned in and pressed my lips against his. He intensified the kiss, and we soon found ourselves in the same positions as we were in the night before.

…...

That was the beginning of our relationship. It had now been at least a year and a half and we were still a happy couple. Granted he was still my boss and I still worked on the _Bloody Mary_ but all was well. Tran and I started to get along better as well. He was both of our good friend. We were a small little family sitting on a shitty boat in the middle of the jungle. And that's the way we liked it.


	7. A Job

**Note: I am so so sorry, I havent updated in so long! I feel horrible! I left you on a total cliffhanger. My way of making it up to you is adding a bunch of chapters and focusing on this story and trying to get it done. Even though I am so bad, please review. :D I love you if you are a continuing reader.**

Bill, Tran and I decided to go to the bar, which was becoming our main 'hangout' other than the boat. For some reason every time we were docked here in Padrang Province we would go and get a drink at this bar in the same seat that Bill took me too over a year and a half ago. My parents had tried to find me, they sent out some people to try and find me. I found them first and told them I was happy and wanted to be on my own.

We were sitting at our table when an Indonesian guy that none of us had seen before walked up to us.

"I see your sitting in my area." the man said in almost perfect English.

"Sorry, man. First come first serve." Bill said. I rolled my eyes and looked at Tran knowing what was going to happen.

"Did she just roll her eyes at me?" the guy asked, pointing his finger at me.

"Man, why don't you go have a seat at the bar. Like he said its first come first serve." I said. During the time I was here I had changed my attitude. I was more stern, out going, I spoke my mind a lot more than I used to, or I should.

The man turned to go to the bar and we got back to our conversation.

"It would be nice to fix up the _Bloody Mary_ a bit." I said, looking at Bill and sipping my drink.

"Yeah, but where would we get the money darlin'?" he asked. I shrugged.

"We could always take up more jobs." Tran suggested.

"Yeah, but we have to wait for the raining season to end. It would be suicide to take someone down the river right now." Bill said. I nodded and downed the rest of my drink.

"Unless they give us a good price." Tran said. I nodded again. I lowered the glass in time to see our Indonesian 'friend' show back up with 2 other men. Once again I rolled my eyes and let out a sigh.

"Move." one of the new men said.

"No." Bill said flatly and gulped the rest of his drink. The man bent down and grabbed him by his shirt. Bill punched the man and he let go. The other two men grabbed Bill and a full on fight ensued.

" Are you going to help or get the next order?" I asked Tran. He nodded towards Bill and got up. I made my way to the bar as Bill was thrown out of the building. I reordered our drinks and sat back at the table.

Soon after I sat down Bill and Tran came back. Bill was soaking wet and had a little blood on the corner of his mouth.

"Wouldn't have been easier to go sit over there?" I asked pointing to the back room. Bill nodded holding his jaw. I got up with the drinks in hand and walked into the back room with the guys.

"Babe I cant keep stitching you up, we don't have the money for it." I said to Bill as I was looking at him trying to clean himself up.

"I don't need stitches!" he exclaimed.

"Not this time, no." I said with a smile. He looked over at me and shook his head with a smile creeping on his lips.

Tran had left to go sit somewhere and talk to people. Maybe even find us a job, even though it was the raining season we needed money. A small job down the river would be just what we needed. Bill put his drink on the bruise that was forming on his right cheek.

"JIN-SOON!" Trans voice boomed from a short distance away. "These tourists need a boat. I told them not during the raining season." He said as he came into view. They liked to play a little bargaining game. I always just sat back and watched.

"You're Jin-Soon?" a woman asked that was following Tran.

"Local nickname. Names Johnson. Bill Johnson." Bill said. I had to make myself not laugh. They way he said it just made me think of James Bond. I took a sip of my drink trying to contain myself.

"It's a pronunciation thing. And you can rent my boat for 25 grand. Now, if you want me to drive it... well, that'll cost you 50." I smiled in spite of myself. He was taking in the cost of fixing it up, like I had suggested kindly over the last couple of months. Not a drastic fix up, just a new engine and what not.

"Fifty Grand? Are you high?" the woman from before asked. Bill gave her a look. "You know what? Don't answer that. There is no way I am trusting him with the expedition." Bill was about to speak but I put my hand up to him and stopped him. This was my part of the role.

"Listen. Lady. Let's cut the bullshit, please." I said as she turned around and gave me a surprised look. "If one of the other charter companies could take you, you'd be on the river by now. You only came to us because you're desperate."

"Who the hell is this?" She asked.

"This is my crew." Bill said pointing to Tran and I. "Fifty grand is my price. Take it... or leave it."

Tran finished off his drink as Bill took a sip from his. All three of us looked at the people in front of us waiting for an answer. They all nodded to each other.

"Great meet us at the docks tomorrow morning. Don't be late." I said as all three of us got up from the table and walked off to the docks. We got on the boat and went our separate ways. Tran went to his bunk and Bill and I went to ours.

"Well, we settled that well." I said as Bill settled himself onto our bed.

"And we got some good money out of it." He said with a smile.

"Do you think we can do it though? Go up river during the raining season?" I asked. He nodded.

"We've been through worse, I think we can. If not I'll just turn the boat around." he said.

"Promise?" I asked sitting on the bed and touching the bruise on his cheek.

"Promise." he said as he moved my hair behind my ear. I settled in beside him and we drifted into a sleep dreaming of the riches ahead.


	8. I handle a lot but not snakes

We woke up early the next morning to get the boat ready to go. The rain was coming down hard as it had been the night before. I tidied the boat up as best as I could, and as best as I wanted to. Bill went to get some supplies out in the town, such as gas and food. Tran stayed with me doing some random repairs that needed to be done.

"You think they know what they're doing." Tran said as he looked out of the boat to the people.

"Who knows? People could surprise you." I said.

"You and the other gal can stay in here." Bill said to the blonde girl as the other people boarded the boat. He led her into our room. That was the thing about Bill he was a hard ass but he was a respectful hard ass.

"You live here?" she asked. I was standing in the door way when she asked this I took it upon myself to answer.

"It doesn't look like much but its home." I said. She turned around and gave a slight smile to me then turned back to Bill.

"The way you say that I can tell your impressed." Bill said to the girl with a smirk on his face. According to him I was the only girl who actually liked the _Bloody Mary_.

"All right. If you need anything.. well, if you need anything your shit out of luck." Bill said as he walked towards me. I let out a small laugh. He could be such an ass. We walked up to the controlling part of the boat were Tran, Bill and I would be sleeping. Bill put the boat in gear and like that we were off up the river. Bill and I left Tran to the controls and walked back down to see how everyone was doing.

"Okay. Now this is where the exploratory team found the orchid. In the Selatan Basin." Jack said. It looked like he was one of the people in charge of the expedition. I stood on the side of the boat across from where Bill, and Jack were.

"It took them three days to get upriver." Jack continued.

"Yeah, that was before the rainy season." Bill explained. "These waterways could be dangerous now."

"You said you could get us there safely." the blonde said.

"And I will. But safe isn't always quick. We'll work our way up river one bend at a time. If I don't like what I see, we change course. You cant chart the fastest route before you begin." Bill said.

"Already have." one of the guys at the table said. I along with the other woman moved in for a closer look. He moved it so Bill, the blonde and Jack wouldn't have to walk around. Bill sat on the table they were just looking at and everyone moved forward.

"Check it, alright. Now, we're up linked in real time to NASA and AsiaSatCom. Now under ideal conditions this is the fastest route." he explained as he showed on the laptop. "But once we superimpose weather patterns for the last 10 years... and then extrapolate... Bingo! Padrang to the Selatan Basin. I'm a bad man." he said leaning back proud of his work.

"We got less than a week to get to that orchid. If you cant get the job done, give our money back and we'll get somebody who can." Gordon said. He was a tall black guy who was another person in charge of this expedition. I was starting to remember names a little bit. There were a lot of people on this boat though.

"I'll get you there." Bill said looking over at me, and got up to go check on Tran and give him the route.

I sat there and talked to the blonde who's name was Sam.

"I can see why you like this boat it is kind of cozy, in a way. Is there another area I can sleep in?" she asked. I looked up at her somewhat offended.

"Oh, no. Gail, the other girl, I don't think she would want be to bunk with her." she said in her southern drawl. I nodded.

"I think I can find something for you." I said. Just then we heard screaming coming from the room we were just talking about. Everyone started to rush towards said room. Gail ran out into Gordon.

"Something attacked me!" she exclaimed frantic. By now Bill had come down to the level. "Oh my God!" she said still frantic.

"She said something attacked her." Gordon said to Bill. Bill walked into our room and came out with Kong on his shoulder.

"It's OK, it's OK. What the hell'd you do? You scared him." Bill said to the woman as she began to calm down a little.

"I scared him!" she exclaimed. Everyone had smiles on their faces by this point.

"This is Kong. Kong lives here. You're guests. Be Nice." Bill explained to everyone. Sam looked at me with excitement in her face. I kinda liked this girl, she seemed level headed and sweet. Bill went back up to talk to Tran and everyone resumed what they were doing before the 'frantic' discovery.

"He's adorable." Sam said with the same excitement in her face.

"I know, he's how I met Bill." I said. She gave me a curious look. "If we get girl alone time, I'll tell ya the story." I said with a wink. She laughed a bit and looked down at her paperwork.

I went up to check on Tran and Bill.

"Some of these people are nice." I said standing in between the two men. They both looked at me then at each other.

"What?" I asked. They shook their heads at me and continued to drive the boat.

I went back down the main part of the boat and walked around. Tran came down soon after. Bill giving him a break. Gail and Gordon were arguing on their satellite phones. Tran was carving a statue and everyone else basically sat in amusement some where on the boat.

When they lost their reception Tran had an idea.

"Try my phone." he said referring to the statue he was carving. "Works just as good but it's free." I laughed at his choice of humor.

"Okay. Maybe you can use my special antenna to boost your reception." Gordon replied flipping Tran off. I laughed even harder, so did Tran.

I looked out at the banks. This was such a beautiful place to live. I felt so grateful for finally standing up to my parents and decided to take a risk and live here. The trees were so green, the air so moist, and the way the clouds clung to the mountain as a life raft was pure serenity to me.

"Stop the boat!" Jack said interrupting my 'serenity.' Bill came down to see what was up. He used the guy's camera as a binocular.

"Blood Orchid? Isn't that suppose to be red?" Bill asked Sam.

"This is something else. An incredibly rare flowering vine. I've only ever seen once and it was in captivity." Jack said. He said the name of the flower but I didn't catch it.

"Can you get us to shore?" Sam asked Bill.

"It's your money." Bill said and walked up to where Tran was. I followed him.

Moments later, Bill, Tran, Sam, Jack and I were walking through the waters towards shore. I was the last one to get off the boat. Bill had a gun so he went first as precaution. Tran had a machete. Jack and Sam had packs of science crap. I walked behind with my own machete. We walked through the water that was about knee deep.

I could hear Bill and Sam talking but what they were talking about was beyond me. _Probably about how he has a gun and if it's necessary. Well, it is. We've learned the hard way a couple of times. _

When we got to shore we let Sam and Jack go ahead to their flower. Bill, Tran and I stayed back and watched our surroundings.

"Wait here." Bill said to Tran and I barely above a whisper and disappeared into the dense jungle. Tran and I looked at each other and continued to look around.

"Tran, Mitra." Bill said only moments later. We walked into the jungle cautiously.

"Check it out." Bill said as we finally reached him. I sucked in my breath which was a bad idea. There was a dead cow and it had been dead for a while. The smell was so rancid, I did everything I could not to gag. Its body was unnaturally twisted and contorted. It looked like it had been swallowed.

"It looks like its been swallowed." I said not sure what to say. I had never seen this. Bill walked closer to the carcass and grabbed something. It looked like a white tarp. He pulled it and pulled it and like a magicians rope it continued.

"Ever seen one this big before?" Bill asked looking at Tran.

"Nana Lax Asa." Tran said in Indonesian.

"What?" I asked.

"There are legends of giant serpents around here. Nana Lax Asa. The Lo Pax worship them." Tran said.

"This is no Nana Lax Asa, this is Anaconda." Bill said. I looked at him.

"As in the snake?" I said somewhat panicky. They both looked at me telling me I was right.

"No, no, no, no, no. I put up with a lot of shit from the jungle. Snakes ain't one of them." I said somewhat freaking out. Bill rolled the snake skin up and hid it behind the carcass.

"Okay, how about we don't tell the others about this." Bill said as he walked back to us. I nodded unable to speak for the moment.

"For fifty grand I think I can keep quite." Tran said lightening the mood for me.

"Here's the deal. This is the last stop we make. Nobody gets off the boat." Bill said as we walked out of the jungle. We then walked back to the boat without a sound and proceed on our journey up river.


	9. Crazy Doc Crazy People

Later that night, Gail and Sam helped me in the kitchen.

"So you were one of Jack's students?" Gail asked Sam.

"Yeah. He was teaching a seminar in botanical pharmacology. Soon as I finished my dissertation, he hired me." Sam said. I grabbed some spices from the makeshift spice rack Tran built and added it to our meal.

"Well, that's one way to get a leg up." Gail said. I froze, _Let Sam fight her own fight. Don't get in the middle of this. _I thought to myself.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked nonchalantly. She was a bit taken aback herself.

"I had a professor who wanted to hire me right out of school. Of course, he wanted me to be his secretary." Gail said. I almost lost it right then. How dare this woman get mad at this other woman for being in the same situation she was in at a younger age. I was about to speak when Sam beat me to it.

"Look, if I've done something to offend you in anyway-" Sam began and was interrupted by Gail.

"No, no, dear not at all. Actually I admire you. Took me 10 years to get where I am. Clearly your generation has it figured out." Gail said then grabbed her beer and left. I turned to Sam.

"And that's why I left the states." I said. Sam let out a sigh and looked over at me with a somewhat of a quizzical look.

"God forbid if a woman ranks high in an office. Or wants to succeed on her own or with a little help. Everyone automatically assumes your sleeping with the boss or the landlord. Its just ridiculous." I said trying to cheer her up a bit. "Don't mind Gail she's just jealous cause you've done what she cant."

Sam smiled at me in gratitude.

"Now lets go give them some food cause I'm starving." I said with a laugh, which Sam soon followed.

I put down the bowl of fruit. One of the guys had helped us cook his name was Ben, Dr. Ben to be more specific.

We all crowded around the table. Tran was back at the controls and Bill was standing by the table.

"Man this is good. Where's you learn to cook like this?" Cole asked Ben. I had found out his name through Sam, he was the laptop guy from earlier today.

"Just a little recipe I picked up in Sri Lanka." Ben said scooping out what looked to be soup. We didn't have enough chairs so some people stood, and some sat.

"What were you doing there?" Gail asked. Sam brought in more food.

"Doctors without borders. It's my day job." Ben answered. I tasted this soup like food, it wasn't that bad.

"You guys expect to need a doctor?" Bill asked what I was thinking.

"Cant get the expedition bonded without one." Gail said.

"Well, you just think of me as a charming insurance policy." Ben said cracking a joke. The majority of the people laughed. Bill and I exchanged a glance.

"Hey!" I exclaimed seeing a familiar fuzzy friend. Alerting everyone to the monkey trying to steal a piece of fruit.

"You've had your dinner. Get out of here." Bill said in his owners tone. Kong tried again when Bill was almost turned around. "Eh! What'd I say?" Bill said again. Kong ran up the ladder away from the food.

I smiled and shook my head sipping on my beer. After Kong's departure everyone started to argue about their sleeping arrangements. No one wanted to sleep on the floor, this person didn't want to sleep next to this person. It was like nap time at kindergarten. Bill and I shook our heads at the people arguing. The only thing that made them stop was a loud shriek that came from the jungle.

"Oh, shit. What was that?" Cole said.

"What the hell was that?" Gordon said.

"Something's getting eaten." I said.

"By what?" Gail said.

"Everything get's eaten out here. It's the jungle." Bill said.

"Anyways, back to the argument that you were all in. We have a hammock for one person and since Gail and Sam wont bunk together Sam can take that. The rest of you are on your own. Grow a pair and deal." I said. Everyone nodded in agreement knowing they were acting like children. We soon cleared up the table and went to bed. Tran, Bill and I took the 'captains quarters' as Bill so elegantly put it. It was a small ledge by the controls with just enough room for two people to sleep. We also made a schedule. Tran would control until he got tired then Bill and I would control til we got tired with a 4 hour minimum. I was still learning how to drive this damn boat. Bill and I squeezed into the ledge and fell asleep.


	10. Croc fight

The next morning everyone was awake and doing whatever they were doing.

"Hey babe," Bill asked from down below, as I was driving the boat with Tran nervously standing next to me.

"Yeah." I answered.

"Have you seen Kong today?" he asked. I looked at Tran.

"Have you?" I asked Tran he shook his head no and looked back out on the river. He hated it when I drove the boat.

"No, neither has Tran." I yelled back to Bill. I heard a frustrated sigh. I looked at Tran and he took over. I walked down the ladder and helped Bill try and find Kong.

"Kong." Bill and I said over and over.

"Hey, have you guys seen Kong?" I asked the guys who were playing poker on the table.

"No, not since last night." Ben said. I nodded and walked over to Bill.

"Nobody's seen him since last night." I told him. He nodded and continued looking.

"Where are you?" he said under his breath and went to look on the upper level. I went to the other side of the boat to look for him.

I heard a scream and water thrashing.

"Stop the boat." Sam yelled. I rolled my eyes and continued to walk to the side of the boat. Sure enough Gail was in the water thrashing about. Everyone came running next to me. I had a smirk on my face. Dumb city girl. I was once just like her mind you but I grew up fast.

"Hey, Gail! Can you hear me now?" Gordon said.

"Stroke, Gail, Stroke. Come on now." Cole said.

"Watch your back." Bill said behind us.

"Hey, Gail how's the water?" Gordon said.

Bill was about to go in and get Gail. It didn't look like she could swim. He got on to the small platform on the back of the boat. I helped him get the stick that Bill had put on the boat for me. I admit I had fallen off of the boat once or twice but I at least knew how to swim. He got the stick down and turned around. I soon joined him on the platform.

"Drop the phone. It's probably holding you back." Cole said taunting her.

"All right." Bill said as he stretched the stick to Gail.

"Stay calm." Ben said as he joined Bill and I on the platform.

"Use your phone as a floatation device." Gordon said.

"Almost there Gail." Jack said as Gail reached for the stick.

"It's just like a phone." Gordon said.

"Bill." I said, noticing something in the water moving towards Gail. "Something's in the water."

"I got it!" Gail said inches away from the stick. As she reached out to grab it a Crocodile came out of the water trying to bite down on Gail. She luckily moved out of the way. Everyone screamed and Ben jumped back onto the boat.

"Be careful." I hopelessly yelled out to Bill as he dove off of the platform in to the croc infested water. He swam to Gail. Ben and Gordon both joined me on the platform. I had the stick in my hand waiting for Gail to surface. Sam gasped behind me.

"Get out!" Jack said.

"Hurry up!" Cole said. Bill found Gail and swam with her halfway back to the boat.

"Come on! Come on!" Cole was yelling.

"Gail, grab it!" I yelled to her as she doggie paddled to the stick. Bill was swimming behind her.

"Bill! Look out!" I yelled as the croc came back. He turned around and slammed a plastic box into it's mouth. Ben and Gordon helped Gail out of the water. I stood and watched for Bill to make sure he didn't need help or wasn't going to get eaten.

They went down for a moment then back up. Bill was on top of the croc stabbing it with his knife that he usually always had on him. It was a last year Christmas present. Tran's gun soon came to the side of me. I was glad he was also paying attention.

"Get him, Bill! Get him, Bill! Get him in the eye, man!" Cole was yelling. Bill stabbed the croc the croc started doing the death roll before they went down.

"Bill?" Sam asked the water. We all leaned on the side of the boat leering over to see if he was still alive.

"Shit!" I said not being able to see him. Panic and adrenaline was for once starting to course through my veins.

He came up seconds after I had a sinking feeling he wouldn't. He swam back a little and grabbed his knife from the corpse of the croc. He swam to the boat out of breath. I stood there and stared at him, almost in disbelief.

"Holy shit you won!" Cole exclaimed.

He put his knife on the platform trying to catch his breath.

"You're okay?" he asked Gail.

"I lost my phone." she said.

"Sorry to hear it." He said and he started to get up I pushed him back into the water.

"Don't you ever do that again Bill Johnson!" I yelled at him then helped him out of the water. He smiled at me with his evil mischievous smirk as he reached my standing level. I smirked back at him, as he wrapped one arm around me and turned to where Sam was looking at Bill, like he was insane.

"That was either the bravest or the stupidest thing I've ever seen." She said to him. I smiled and chuckled to myself.

"It's a fine line." Bill said as he jumped back on deck and helped me over.


	11. Orchid reasoning

We drifted along the river, compared to the last couple of days, the weather was nice. The sun was out there were few clouds and it was actually a peaceful boat ride.

"Good as new." Ben said as he stitched Gail's arm.

"Thanks." was all she said bundled in a blanket.

"Glad to have you here doc. I cant stitch worth crap." I said standing near them. He smiled to me and nodded. We were all standing around the table we used for dinner the night before. We were all having a nice glass of whiskey, to calm us after the croc incident.

"To Gail, who knows its better to eat than be eaten." Jack said.

"To Gail." we all said and sipped the alcohol.

"Almost eaten just to find a flower. Hardly seems worth it." Bill said.

"Oh its worth it. I mean think about it. A pill that you take every day for the rest of your life. Now even if we charge, say, a dollar a pop we're billionaires. And at a hundred dollars a bottle, I'll dive into that river and fight that croc myself." Gordon said, as everyone laughed, except for Bill, Tran, and I. This seemed to be a big joke to all of these city slickers.

"So how many flowers does it take to save the world?" Tran asked.

"Figure 50 orchids will yield about an ounce of chemical." Sam said. Gail shook her head.

"You could have a football field full of those orchids still doesn't mean you can get it though human trials." Gail said in her smart ass tone. Tran let out an exaggerated breath.

"She doesn't even believe in you." Tran said to Jack. Jack looked up at him.

"Comes with the territory. In research you've got to go out on a limb. And there is always someone waiting to chop it off." Jack said.

Just then Kong dropped from the ceiling scaring everyone, except for Bill, and I.

"Where the hell have you been?" Bill asked as he walked over to Kong and let him crawl onto his shoulder. I walked over to Bill and looked at Kong. For being a white faced monkey he looked pale.

"God damn that thing!" Gail exclaimed.

"Calm down. Calm down." Bill and I said trying to calm the poor thing down. It jumped from Bill's shoulder to mine, hugging my much smaller neck.

"Poor guy, looks like he's seen a ghost." Sam said as she looked at Kong.

"It's alright. Its OK." I said still trying to calm the poor thing down.

Later that night everyone went to doing their own thing. Whether it was research, maintenance, or managing, everyone was pretty much back to normal from the busy day.

I stood with Bill and Tran up in the captain's dock. Granted the day was a beautiful one it was the monsoon season after all. The rain was falling in sheets.

"This doesn't look good." Tran said.

"That it doesn't." I said as we all looked out the window on to the river that was rising rapidly.

"Who's gonna go talk to Jack?" Bill said. Tran and I both looked at him, he was the captain.

"Fine." Bill said as he started down to the main level.

"You are on watch tonight and you are the captain." I said. He turned around and gave me a smirk and walked off to talk to Jack. "I'm gonna head off to bed, Tran. Enjoy your night of rest." I said and shoved myself into the little space that Bill and I had to sleep now. I could hear Bill and Jack walking up to the deck and talking. I was so tired that I couldn't hear what they were saying and soon drifted off.


	12. Missed our turn off

I woke up to Bill waking up beside me. Tran and him must have switched shifts in the middle of the night.

"What?" I asked him.

"We hit something." he said as we heard another thud against the side of the boat.

"Shit." I said as he got out and walked to the captains deck.

"Rivers flooded." Tran said.

"Miss our turn off?" Bill asked.

"It's just ahead." Tran said as I joined behind them.

"Damn." I said as I saw the river, it was flooded like Tran said with tons of logs floating in our way. A bigger thud than usual made us all jump a little.

"What the hell was that?" Bill asked as he looked over the side of the boat. Tran was trying to steer, but the wheel wouldn't budge.

"Rudder's jammed." Tran said.

"What?" Bill asked. It wasn't necessary a question but an exclamation. Tran moved as Bill tried to make the wheel turn, it refused to budge.

"Shit!" he said as he went to go look at the engine and rudder system. I stayed with Tran.

"So this means we're in deep shit, right?" I asked, Tran nodded and looked back out at the water.

"Get up! Everybody get up!" I could hear Bill say below, hitting the doors and making people get up. I looked at Tran and decided to go down and help Bill.

"Whats going on?" Gordon said coming out of Gail's room, with Gail. I shuddered to myself knowing I was going to be buying a new mattress as soon as possible.

"Goddamn it!" Bill exclaimed as he hit the engine with a wrench.

"Whats up?" I said standing next to him and Sam, who was sleeping in the hammock above the engine, since it was the only logical place we could think to have a hammock.

"Shit! We've blown the head gasket." Bill said. Millions of swear words jumped around in my mind to the point that I couldn't pick one to say.

"Are we alright?" Sam asked.

"No." I said plainly as the words still jumbled my mind.

"Hey, whats going on?" Jack asked as he walked to us. Bill started to walk to the other side of the boat, I followed knowing he may need assistance. "What is it?" Jack asked as I passed him.

"We've got problems." Bill said as we continued walking, we walked to the deck. Everyone stayed below. Tran was still trying to make the wheel turn but it still wouldn't budge. When he saw Bill and I he moved to the side to allow Bill to try and work his magic. He boosted the propellers and tried to make the wheel turn.

"Son of a bitch. The current's too strong." he said as his plan was failing. We kept going in the way the current was.

"We missed our turn off." I said.

"I know. Come on baby." Bill said as he still tried to make his plan work. I could hear our passengers below start to panic. I looked out instead of at the green light saying we were OK.

"Bill." I said trying to get his attention. He was still concentrating. "Bill." I repeated. He was still in his world.

"Come on. You got this. Come on girl." he said to the boat. The light hit red, and the propellers stopped. Bill hit the dash board in front of him.

"Bill!" I said louder.

"What!" he yelled back out of frustration.

"We have bigger problems." I said pointing to the front of us.

"Shit!" Bill said as he saw the giant waterfall in front of us. Tran went below deck.

"Everybody hang on." Tran said below.

"Hang on?" some of the people including Cole said. I walked over to where Bill and I slept and held on to a bar that supported the boat.

Within minutes we were going over the waterfall. Everyone was screaming and holding on for their lives. To scared to move I didn't let go of the pole in time. I got caught within the makeshift bed, being dragged further and further into the water. I couldn't get out, the water was rushing to fast and it was too strong. Finally the water current weakened in strength and I was able to move out and away from the boat. I was out of breath and my lungs felt like they were on fire. The moment my face hit the surface I breathed in the sweet oxygen. I swam in place for a moment trying to catch my breath and see where everyone went. I looked around and saw everyone either swimming or already on shore. I began slowly swimming towards them. When I reached the shore, Bill and Cole helped me out of the water. We all sat on the rocks in silence for a moment, realizing what had just happened.


	13. RIP Bloody Mary

"You almost got us killed!" Gail exclaimed, ending the silence.

"You think I wanted this? I just lost my damn boat!" Bill said back with as much anger. I put my hand on his shoulder, knowing how hard it was for him, we just lost out house. We just lost _The Bloody Mary. _

"You'll lose your damn pay if you don't get us out." Gordon said.

"Hey, give him a sec. He just lost his damn house." I yelled at Gordon, frustrated with these stupid tourists.

"You said you could get us there safely! If you knew it was dangerous you should have turned around." Gail said completely ignoring me. I rolled my eyes and scooted a little closer to Bill so I could but my other hand on his other shoulder. He put his head in his hands and said nothing.

"That's enough!" Jack yelled at Gail. "There's nothing we can do about that now. It's a waste of energy." he said as he moved on the small shore. "What have we got?" he asked looking at some of the items that had floated ashore.

"Some specimen jars, a map, a little water, no food." Sam said as Tran pulled the floatation devices out of the water with a couple of machete's attached to them.

"Hard drives ruined." Ben said as he held up a hard drive.

"Well, pretty much all the equipment is shot." Cole said. "Except one of the SAT phones still works. It's on-line." he said and threw it to Jack.

"Thank God we can call the police." Gail said.

"The police? Honey, this isn't America. It will be a couple of days til they even get here. They aren't going to fly out and rescue you. We are in the middle of the jungle. We are on our own." I said looking right at Gail. She gave me a dirty look and looked at Gordon.

"Ya the nearest river patrol is back at Padrang. The only way to get to us is to go over that." Tran confirmed what I said, pointing to the waterfall behind him.

"So, what you guys are saying is we're stuck here?" Sam said.

"Welcome to the jungle." I said.

"Well, maybe not." Bill said, I looked over to him. He got up and retrieved the map that we had. "We're here. The valley's completely flooded." he said showing with his hand exactly where it was flooded. "But I got a friend who operates a boat on the Tokut river."

"Livingston?" I asked, he nodded.

"I can give him a call, and he can meet us here at Naga Rock." Bill continued.

"How far is that?" Sam asked.

"I don't know. A two-day hike down the river. But if we bushwhack we cut at least a day off the trek." Bill said.

"Oh, my God. You want to go through that?" Cole exclaimed pointing at a very dense jungle. I couldn't help but smile at him.

"It's the shortest way. We could be safely in the Tokut by nightfall." Bill said.

"So, we can continue our expedition." Jack said. I rolled my eyes at him, these people were stupid.

"Yeah, I'll get you to that flower." Bill said, as I looked over to him. I loved that man but he could be so blinded my money sometimes. Granted we needed the money a lot more now, but it wasn't worth our lives.

"I don't care about that flower just get us to safety." Gale said.

"It's the same thing. We can either be on my buddy's boat in 10 hours, or we can sit here and wait for the river patrol for days." Bill said.

"Your friend, is he reliable?" Sam asked. 'Not really' I thought.

"Absolutely." Bill said. Jack handed him the phone and he walked off to go call Livingston.

"So, is this how it always is here in the wild?" Sam asked me, as we were salvaging what ever was salvageable. Kong showed up finally. Being the smart monkey he is, he jumped off the boat into the trees before we went over. He began helping salvage as well.

"Sometimes. I trust Bill wholeheartedly in everything. He'll get us out of this." I responded.

"All right people, we're on. Saddle up." Bill said throwing the phone back to Cole. "Stay together. This jungle is all green all the time, and you will get lost." he said as we formed a line. Bill and Tran were up front, to bushwhack, I followed behind them, and everyone else behind me.

I was mildly entertained by the complaints I heard behind me about how hot and humid it was. Living in the middle of the jungle took some getting used to. I was just like them the first year I lived here. Bill and Tran would make fun of me for it, calling me a weakling and whatnot. Kong leaped from tree to tree beside us enjoying the freedom. Our line was constantly rotating on who was in front and behind. I was soon in between Bill and Tran as they hacked away at the trees around us. Bill finally took a rest and stopped.

"Hey. Mind if I give it a try?" Ben asked. I laughed out loud. I had asked that the first time I bushwhacked with these two, trying to impress them. It was easy for the first 30 minutes then my arms felt like they were going to fall off.

"Knock yourself out." Bill said handing over the machete. Ben took it and looked behind him at Sam, winking. Sam rolled her eyes and looked at me shaking her head.

"Hey. I'm sorry about your boat." Sam said as she walked up to us. I nodded to her as a thanks.

"Yeah, well it was a piece of shit anyway." Bill said and continued walking on, leaving Sam and I standing there. I looked over at her as we walked together behind him.

"Thanks, really. It meant a lot to him, to the both of us. He's just... well a man." I said, she smiled and giggled a little.

"I can understand that." She said between giggles, then turned serious. "How are you not breathing hard?" I laughed.

"It takes a while to get used to the humidity and heat. It took me a couple of years. Don't feel to bad." I said as we walked on.


	14. Swampy Waters

**Hey guys sorry it's taken me so long to update. I haven't uploaded any of my stories for a while, with Thanksgiving and finals, I've been busy busy busy. But guess what? I've actually finished, well pretty damn close to finishing, this story. :D I will upload as much as I can as often as I can. I'm going out of town for a couple of days, but I will try to upload it all before then, if not I will when I get back. Please review, it is the holidays after all :D**

We kept walking until we made it to an opening from the forest, that looked like a swamp.

"Can we go around?" Sam asked out of breath.

"Yeah, we could. But we'd loose another day." Bill said, I felt like rolling my eyes but decided against it. I was so exhausted, I hadn't walked this much in such a long time.

"Well this should be fun." I whispered to Sam standing next to me. She cracked a smile and nodded. Bill turned and gave me a look that I would only recognize as amused.

"Let's go." he said as we marched towards the swamp. We all hesitantly walked into the luke-warm water, except for Bill and Tran. Bill looked behind and helped me into the water.

"If I see anything that you know that creeps me out, and you don't warn me, I'm going to scream." I said under my breath as he pulled me into the waist high water with him. He smirked at my concern.

"I'll protect you from the jungle sweetheart." he said with sarcasm and kissed my forehead and continued walking though the water. Bill lead the way with me behind him and Sam behind me. Everyone else trickled along behind us and Tran stayed in the back. No body talked, either too concerned of what may be in the water, like another crocodile, or too grossed out. Kong jumped from dead tree to dead tree along the side of us. He started screaming his monkey scream similar to the one we heard the other night.

"Hey. Knock it off." Bill said as he spotted the monkey in the trees. Every time he yelled or tried to discipline Kong I would develop a smirk. Bill didn't like kids but he was so good with them, including this monkey. Kong kept up with his screeching and screaming just not as loud. I started to get concerned about what he was so worried about. I glanced behind me and everyone had either stopped or slowed down.

"Shit, was was that?" I heard Cole say panicked.

"What, was what?" Gail said becoming panicked as well.

"Something just moved." Cole said looking at the water.

"Oh, please don't say that." Gale said with her usual whine.

"I'm serious something just moved." Cole said again.

"Something moved as in something's alive?" Gordon said.

"Shit! There it is again. There's something in here!" Cole said freaking out.

"There's probably a million things in here." Ben said, which made me smirk a little since he seemed to be the smartest of the group.

"He's right. Just keep moving." Bill said. I turned around, Bill had a concerned look on his face. I remembered the snake skin from the other day and my eyes widened a little. He looked at me and gave me a look. I nodded knowing he didn't want me to say anything. With that he turned around and continued walking. Everyone, including myself more alert. I walked just a little closer to Bill. He knew how much I hated snakes, he thought it was hilarious the first time I saw one on the boat. It ended up just being a leech. We could hear Gail complaining as usual behind us but when she started to call Ben's name we all slowly turned around.

"Ben?" Gail said. When her voice became frantic we all started to walk over as fast as we could with the water resistance.

"Where'd he go?" Bill asked.

"Shit!" I said along with a couple of other people.

"Ben?" Gail kept repeating. As everyone walked over we all said Ben's name over and over again never getting an answer. After about 30 seconds of calling his name he moved from under the water across the front of the group. Everyone stood there confused, frightened and unable to help him.

"Help me!" Ben screamed as he was being thrashed about by something. I grabbed a hold of Bill's arm out of reflex. Ben screamed and went under the water again.

"Ben!" everyone screamed. Ben stood up in the water. Whatever had him had let go. He was in shock and had a multitude of cuts on his body. A split second went past before a giant ass snake flew from the water and collided with Ben. Everyone started screaming. Bill wrapped his arm around my waist and threw me in the opposing direction of the snake. I started to run through the water. Not knowing if anyone was following me. I just kept running until I hit the shore. Everyone was following me as soon as I collided with the dirt I fell to my knees exhausted. Bill grabbed me and pulled me along with him.


	15. Anaconda

**Oh and I forgot to tell you... some of these chapters are going to be really short or kinda long... I blame dialogue and the way the movie was set up... :D Please review and enjoy!**

"What the hell was that?" Cole asked standing up and freaking out. We had walked to a little area that had a couple of rocks to sit on further into the jungle. I was going into shock and didn't remember how we even got there. I was sitting next to Bill on a hard rock. I hardly notice the pain in my tailbone developing.

"Anaconda." I said under my breath coming down from the shock.

"Oh great!" Cole said with sarcasm.

"There's snakes out here that big?" Gail asked.

"Yes, but-" Bill started before he got interrupted by Cole.

"But what? It swallowed him whole!" Cole said as he paced back and fourth.

"Calm down and listen for a second. I can explain-" Bill was saying calmly.

"No, you calm down and listen! Ben was eaten by a freaking snake. Okay? A freaking snake!" Cole said pointing his finger at Bill.

"Cole." Jack said.

"Oh, God. Oh, my God. I mean-" Cole said getting hysterical.

"Cole." Jack said again.

"Did you I mean did you see that thing? We don't got a chance against that! I mean Mitchell, Mitchell. Listen to me man. I watch the Discovery Channel. I'm telling you, we got no chance!" Cole said to Gordon. "We're like mice in an aquarium. You understand? I mean were gonna die girl! Were gonna die!" He said looking at Sam. Jack finally walked over to Cole and made him calm down. I looked over at Bill, his face was intense with fear, something I have never seen before. Tears started to fall from my face, I wiped them away before anyone noticed.

"Listen. Anacondas are territorial. A snake that size will hunt a huge area. There wont be another one for miles. We got to get to the boat. Its not that far. So we keep moving and stick together. We should be fine." Bill said in one of the most calmest voices I have ever heard.

"We should be?" Cole asked. Bill's hand grasped my shoulder and gave a reassuring squeeze.

"How big do they get?" Gordon asked.

"That was the biggest one I've ever seen by far. A freak of nature. The odds of running into another that size are astronomical." Bill said.

"Yeah, but how do we know that the one that got Ben is not going to come after us?" Gordon asked.

"It takes them weeks to digest. Meal like that, he'll be sleeping it off for a while." Bill said as nicely as he could.

"Let's just- um- get to that boat and get home." Gail said as she stood up, as I nodded in approval.

"What about the orchid?" Jack asked. Everyone looked at him with disbelief.

"You've got to be kidding me." Gail said as she turned to face him.

"It wont be in bloom for another seven years." Jack complained.

"This expedition is over, Jack." Gail said with venom.

"Now, hold on a second, Gail. There's a lot of money at stake here." Gordon said.

"I don't care. Ben is dead! We have lost someone. As Wexell-Hall's representative I am calling this expedition off." Gail said.

"You don't have the authority." Jack said testing her.

"Check your contract." She snapped in his direction.

"In case you haven't noticed we're in the middle of the jungle. At this point, your authority is what we say it is." Jack said.

"You're all fucking insane." I said not being able to contain my frustration. Everyone turned to look at me. "I never thought I would say this but Gail is right. Contract, or no contract, you guys lost someone." I said as Bill tightened his grip a little on me.

"Jack, I'm with them. I gotta get the hell out of here man." Cole said looking from me to Gail.

"Look, Ben was my friend, okay?I got him into this and no one feels worse about it than I do. I don't want to do anything stupid. I just want to accomplish what we came here for. If we turn back now, Ben's death would be for nothing." Jack said.

"Let's just get back to the boat. We can regroup and make our decision then." Sam said, finally calmed down enough to talk.

"Fine." Gail said and walked away from Jack. Cole, Tran and Gordon followed after Gail.

"Jack. Maybe Gail's right." Sam said, as soon as Gail was out of hearing distance.

"She's just scared. Once we get back to the boat, she'll be okay." Jack said. Bill got up and held his hand out for me, I grabbed it as he pulled me up. He let go of my hand and we walked over to Sam and Jack.

"When we get back to the boat this expedition is over. I'm taking these people to safety." Bill said sternly, to let Jack know he was still the boss. Bill turned and put his hand on my hip and guided me forward.

"Hey, hey, hey. We had a deal." Jack said. Bill let out a frustrated sigh in my ear. I looked up and saw Tran only got up he never actually left with Cole and the others. Bill turned to Jack, with one hand still on my hip.

"Keep your money, doc. Someone is dead. We're officially in over our heads." Bill said with agitation.

"You just said we wouldn't run into another one of those things." Jack said.

"And we probably wont, but I cant guarantee it. So I'll get you to the boat and after that we're done." Bill said as we walked off, Tran right beside us. He took his hand off of my hip and grabbed the machete.

"These people are insane. One of the reason I left the states. They care more for money than actual life." I said as we walked though the jungle.

"I know. Hey Tran, I'll catch up with you." Bill said as he stopped and grabbed my hand. As soon as Tran was out of sight, Bill pulled me into an unexpected hug.

"Are you okay?" he asked me as he let go and looked at my face. I nodded reluctantly, not used to this side of him.

"As good as one can be when they saw a giant snake eat a man." I said with a tear rolling down my face. I felt weak whenever I cried in front of people, especially Tran and Bill. He closed his eyes and sighed. He leaned forward and kissed my cheek.

"I don't know how it got this bad." he said shaking his head. "We're homeless, a person died under my watch-" he continued before I interrupted him.

"Hey, don't you dare blame yourself for Ben's death. That was a freak accident. You couldn't have prevented it, even if we did know there was an anaconda in the area. Which by the way was miles away, there is no way that, that snake can cover this much territory." I said with a stronger more confident voice, than I had been before the freak incident. He shook his head and pecked my lips.

"What would I do without you?" he asked under his breath, resting his forehead on mine.

"Crash and burn." I said with a small smirk, I kissed his stressed lips and we walked though the jungle to catch up to Tran.


	16. Leeches and Laba Laba Batu

**As always please review! :D **

"I saw this special on Animal Planet. Anacondas are vicious. They hunt for sport. Don't even need to see you to eat you. Just use their flicking tongues to sense body heat."Cole said as we were bushwhacking through the dense jungle. Everyone had calmed down as much as they could since the attack, except for Cole.

"Would you shut the hell up?" Gail yelled.

"And I knew this guy, who knew this guy, who used to shoot documentaries. He went down to the Amazon with his crew, and they were all eaten by snakes. True Story." Cole said ignoring Gail. I couldn't help but let out a chuckle. It was weird to see so many people going though the same trauma and how different they acted.

"Come on, you knew a guy who knew a guy, that's an urban myth." Gordon said. They continued arguing the authenticity of Cole's story. Bill, Sam and I kept whacking and whacking leaving the others a little bit behind with their arguments. Bill had been really quite for a while now, not saying a word, not even a chuckle here or there. I knew he was thinking about this whole situation and tried to find an explanation of it all. He gave a small sigh and began whacking a dense part of jungle, again.

"Hey, babe." I said as I walked closer to him and placed my hand on his arm, stopping him. He looked at me with hardly any emotion at all except for the sorrowful look in his eyes. I shook my head without saying anything and pecked him on the lips. He looked up and behind me, I glanced around and saw Sam.

"Hey, I'm sorry about Ben." He said as Sam caught up to us. We walked along side each other as we got to a less dense part of the jungle. "I never should have stayed on the Mendranang."

"Bill, honey, it wasn't your fault." I said, trying to convince him I was right.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked, not sure about his comment.

"Well, I figured he didn't tell the others, but I thought you knew." Bill said stopping and looking at Sam with truth in his eyes.

"Wait, what?" I asked stopping to confront him, as well as Sam next to me. He sighed a frustrated sigh and we walked slower.

"Byron offered me an extra 50 grand to stay on the river. I told him it might get rough, but he wanted to risk it." He said. Sam and I scoffed at Jack's stupid willingness for this expedition.

"Hey, don't blame him." Bill said to Sam, noticing her scoff.

"Screw that!" I said, turning around with every intention to run to Jack and beat the living shit out of him.

"Mitra!" Bill said as he caught my arm.

"Bill, you better let me go. I've never hit you and have no intention or want to, but this man has not only ruined our home but has killed someone." I said, Sam stood there and watched it all unravel.

"It was my job to keep everyone safe! My job!" Bill raised his voice to me with his arm still tight. "It was my call. I took the money. I thought I could get us through. You want to blame anyone, blame me." he said calmer and loosened his arm a bit around my wrist letting the blood flow again.

"That's bullshit, Bill, and you know that." I said as calm as I could. "We needed the money, fuck, we still do. You did what was best for you, Tran and I. Its technically no ones fault, but he obviously went against his whole team and didn't ask for anyone's opinion. If were going to play the blame game its on him." I said as he let go of my hand. I looked over at Sam, I could tell in her eyes she agreed with me. Bill gave a brief huff and walked off into the jungle with Sam and I slowly following. We let what Bill had said and what I had said sink in. This situation was becoming more and more complicated. We walked on and on, eventually everyone caught up and it was pretty much silent except for the occasional complaint.

"Bill," I began as I inched toward him. He stopped and turned to me, presumably angry from the little 'fight' from before.

"Get it off! Get it off! Get it off!" Cole's voice rang though the jungle. Bill looked down at me gave me an 'it's OK look'.

"Oh- what now?" Bill muttered and walked past me to where everyone was standing around.

"Relax. Alright hold on. Hey! Calm down." Bill said as he approached the frantic Cole as he repeated to say "Get it off me." Bill had to raise Cole in the air by his arms telling him to calm down before he finally did.

"Just a lighter. Just a lighter." Bill said after he examined the leech on Cole's neck.

"Oh, hell no! You ain't burning me!" Cole said. "Okay, Okay, Okay." Cole repeated again and again. Everyone began examining themselves for leeches, including me.

"You burn me and I'll kill you." Cole said as Bill lifted the lit lighter to the leech. Within seconds Bill burned the leech and had plucked it off of him, like a pro. He kinda was a pro given how many of those damned things he had taken off of me.

"You all right? You okay?" Bill said amused by Cole's reaction.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Cole said still frantic and out of breath.

"Hold on. Put your arms up." Bill said still amused.

"What?" Cole asked. "What are you doing? Why are you going under my shirt?" Bill let out a low whistle and smiled.

"Jesus." Bill said as he turned Cole around with his amused smirk, revealing a dozen or more leeches sucking Cole's blood on his back.

"Anyone got a blow torch?" Bill asked. Everyone rolled their eyes at his attempt of a joke. We decided this would be a good time to take a break. I walked over and stood with Tran. We stayed silent basically talking with our eyes. I glanced over at Gordon.

"Dude, how can you have jungle foot that fast?" I asked Gordon as he was rubbing his very swollen irritated foot. He shook his head and grabbed his boot.

"Stop!" Tran said to Gordon before he put his boot on, grabbing everyone's attention. Tran got up and walked over to Gordon.

"Careful." Tran said as he grabbed the boot from Gordon. He hit the boot upside down and a spider fell out.

"What's it-?" Gordon asked looking at the spider.

"If that thing bit you, you would be _lumpuh._ Paralyzed, like stone, for two days." Tran said as he pointed at it. He raised the boot to smash it but not before Jack intervened with a specimen jar.

"What do you call this fella?" Jack asked as he twisted the lid on the jar.

"_Laba laba batu._ Stone spider." he said looking at him like he was nuts.

"I may have just discovered a valuable new anesthetic agent for Wexell-Hall." Jack said with a big smirk. I walked over to Bill as he finished up with Cole. He looked at me then to the group then back to me.

"I cant believe this." I said under my breath so only Bill and possibly Cole could hear.

"Yeah that makes two of us." he said with the same octave level.

"Oh, no, no, no. Forget Wexell, we can get this to the highest bidder." Gordon said, Bill walked over to the little spider meeting.

"All right. Show and tell's over." he said, as Cole looked up at me.

"He always like that?" he asked me, I gave him a smirk.

"If he's not that way and he's silent, be worried." I said.

"We gotta get to that boat. Put your boots on and let's go." Bill said sternly. Tran handed Gordon's boot back, as Jack gazed at the spider. I patted Cole on his back a little to hard knowing how bad it would feel. A little trick Tran and Bill would pull on me.

"Let's get going." I said as I walked to where Tran and Bill had just walked off.

"God, I cant wait for life to be normal again." I said as I caught up to them. They both turned to me and smirked. "What?" I asked.

"When were our lives ever normal?" Tran asked.

"Well, good point but I can't wait to get back to somewhere familiar and call it home, like the bar." I said. They both chuckled as Bill put his arm around me.

"Let's keep a closer eye on Jack. He's up to something, and I'm not liking it." Bill said as he looked to Tran then to me. We both nodded, knowing something about that man was to egocentric and blinding.


	17. Broken Hand and Headhunters

Bushwhacking through the jungle was getting old fast. But at least we were a little more lively then before. Putting Ben's death behind us as much as we could we carried on. I started to think of where Bill, Tran, and I would stay when we got back into town. We could stay with Livingston, but that always got old way too fast. To the right of us a huge explosion erupted.

"Whoa! What was that?"Everyone muttered and began a chorus of talking. Bill, Tran, Sam and I walked as close to the hill like cliff as we could to get a better look.

"What the hell was that?" Sam asked. Bill looked at Tran and exchanged a glace. _Livingston, _flashed through my mind.

"Come on." Bill said as him and Tran started down the cliff.

"Fuck." I muttered as I and the rest of the group followed. At a much quicker pace we reached the area of explosion in record time. It was Livingston's boat all right, or what was left of it. As soon as Tran and Bill exited the brush onto the bank of the river they ran towards the wreckage. I ran too, not wanting to stand there and explain Livingston to the others. He had many bad habits but he never took them out of bounds, he was never reckless in that sense.

"No, no, no, no! Oh, come on, man!" Cole said as he walked onto the bank.

"What the hell happened?" Gordon said.

"Livingston!" Tran yelled as Bill and I searched what was left, trying to find clues. Gail started crying and dramatically collapsed to the ground.

"He got drunk and fell of the bloody boat!" Jack said as he held the broken glass bottle in his hands.

"What did you just say?" I asked, Jack as I walked over to him finally loosing my temper with him.

"I said, he got-" Jack began to say before I interrupted him.

"You didn't know him! He may have been a lot of things but he wasn't that reckless!" I screamed at Jack.

"Whatever." he said as he tried to walk past me. I stopped him by punching him dead in the face. Before I could swing again Tran ran over and grabbed me from doing any more damage.

"Come on, Mitra. Let it go. We have other things to worry about now." Tran whispered in my ear. He let me go and escorted me to where he was once standing.

"Your friend! Your friend! Now what we gonna do now?" Cole yelled at Bill, completely unaware of my attack on Jack.

"Search the wreckage. Find anything we can use. And hope to God there's a phone." Bill said as he turned and walked back towards the wreckage. I looked up at Tran as we walked towards the boat remains. As much as I hated to admit it, my hand was throbbing from punching Jack in the face. We searched through the entire wreckage. I was mainly looking for a first aid kit, my knuckles were split open and bleeding and my hand was probably broken.

"Looking for this." Gail asked as she held the first aid kit. I stood up as she handed it to me.

"Thanks." I said as I opened it to look at it's contents. I grabbed some of the gauze and began to clean the wounds.

"Nice hit by the way. I rather be on a boat off to the main land, but that was next to pretty damn good." she said as she stood and watched me clean my hand. I smirked at her.

"I think we have all wanted to do that more than once in the last couple of days." I said, she chuckled under her breath.

"Yeah." she said and walked off. I walked out of the little part of the broken boat as my hand dried from the alcohol. I sat down at a rock and watched Kong help out with the others grabbing lights. I smirked at the little monkey and began to wrap my hand. Bill noticed me wrapping my hand. I tensed up as I saw him walk over.

"What happened?" he asked as he knelt front of me.

"I slipped and fell." I said not making eye contact.

"On your knuckles?" he asked seeing the blood starting to soak through the bandage. He gracefully took my hand and began to look at it.

"She punched Jack." Tran said as he walked by with a yellow emergency kit, he kept walking until he was out of distance of any of us and looked through the bag. Bill looked up at me with anger, amusement, and a hint of pride on his face.

"You did?" he asked me as he held my hand. I smiled nodded a quick nod. "Nice." He said chuckling under his breath with a smirk. "But I think you broke your hand. Smooth going." he said being his usual self.

"Hey be nice or I'll ban it." I said, it wouldn't be the first time I threatened to take sex away from him, it never worked out he was to hot to resist and he knew that.

"Uh huh yeah right." he said as he wrapped my hand with a thicker wrapping to protect it from the possible break. "We'll have to go see the doc when we get back to town."

"Yeah I know." I said solemnly.

"Take it easy with the hand and you should be fine." he said as he finished the wrap. He looked up at me, if it wasn't for the traumatic situation I would be going crazy with him right now. His eyes were so amazing switching from blue to green to hazel. "I love you, you know that?" he said. He hardly ever said the "L" word, he considered it a jinx on the relationship. But once in a while he would tell it to me when he knew I needed to hear it the most. I smiled and nodded again.

"I love you too, you dork." I said as he gave a quick peck to my lips and stood up again to join the group.

I sat there and watched everyone go about their business. I saw Tran sitting on the far end of the shore doing nothing in particular. I walked over to join him, since my hand was in such bad shape I couldn't do much.

"Hey Tran. What is it?" I asked as he had a look on his face of respect, knowledge and worry. He nodded to a dead fish in front of him.

"Oh." was all I could say. Head hunters were around. I sat down near Tran and stared out into the jungle like he was. Soon Bill and everyone else joined us.

"What's going on?" Cole said, as Tran looked up at Bill. Bill's eye fell on the fish.

"Where's these come from?" Bill asked.

"Lopaks." Tran said.

"Who?" Gordon asked.

"Local tribe." I said hoping that Tran wouldn't go into detail, it would just freak them all out more.

"Descended from headhunters." Tran finished my sentence, I cringed at the headhunter part.

"What?" Cole asked.

"Been in this region for thousands of years." Tran said looking out among the river.

"Headhunters?" Cole asked again.

"There's still some villages around here." I said, trying to be like Tran and ignore the frantic man.

"Must be one of their fishing spots." Bill said as he studied the fish.

"Hold on. Excuse me. Did you say headhunters?" Cole asked.

"There haven't been practicing headhunters in Borneo for a century." Tran said with a big smile on his face.

"Just because they ain't practicing don't mean they don't remember how!" Cole said.

"They must be along this branch of the river." Tran said as he stood up. I slowly began to stand up being careful with my hand. "If we find their village, maybe they can lend us a boat." Tran said as he walked off leaving Bill nodding in approval.

"So wait a minute. We just gonna walk towards the headhunters, not away?" Cole asked.

"Yeah." Bill said as he passed him.

"Yeah, yeah that makes sense." Cole said with sarcasm coating his words.

"Hey, its not that bad, gangs here are a lot worse." I said as I passed him cradling my arm. He gave a fake laugh as he followed us back into the jungle to search for the headhunters.


	18. We're going to build one

Tran was back up front with Bill, Sam and I walked along behind them. Tran thought it would be a good idea since he was a local to walk into the village first, making it least likely to attack. As usual Cole and the others were complaining, behind us. Sam had learned that keeping quite made the walking go faster and the time fly, plus I think she wasn't a complainer. Bill was hacking and hacking at the branches. As he hit one branch a body fell, startling everyone.

"Oh, God." I said under my breath. Everyone stood behind Bill, Tran and I gaping at the contorted body in front of us.

"Is that-?" Sam began to ask.

"Livingston." Bill said out of breath. The smell was so bad I couldn't help but start to gag and eventually threw up in the bushes to the right of me.

"Oh, my God, man. What happened to him?" Cole said.

"Anaconda." I said as I stood back up wiping the vomit from my face. We walked a was away from Livingston's body. I sat on a rock with my head between my legs trying to make the nausea go away. There was something about seeing one of the people you knew swallowed a regurgitated hanging from a tree that made you queasy.

"If he was eaten by the snake then why is his body-?" Sam asked, crying and obviously had, had enough.

"Listen, listen!" Bill shouted loosing his temper. He was walking back and fourth in front of me making me very nervous with the machete still in his hand. "All right. These things are at their weakest when they digest. But if threatened, they will spit up their food and attack again."

"What? There's some snake out there with an empty stomach?" Cole said.

"There's millions of snakes out there with an empty stomachs." I said tired of his not being able to keep it together. "But yeah there is probably an Anaconda close by with an empty stomach."

"The same one that got Ben?" Sam asked a little frantic.

"No. No. There's no way that snake could have gotten to Livingston." Bill said still pacing. "It had to be another one."

"You said there wouldn't be another one for miles." Gail said.

"There wouldn't." Bill said, "Unless..." he left off.

"Unless what?" Gail pressured on.

"Oh shit." I said coming to the realization Bill had.

"Unless it's mating season." Bill said as he paced shacking his head.

"Oh, my God." Cole said.

"Mating season?" Gordon questioned.

"Yeah." Bill said as if he was talking to a child. "You see, the males are territorial, but when they smell a female in heat..." Bill shook his head. " they come running from everywhere."

"Females find a nice, wet, muddy pit, and they all go after her at once in one big mating ball." Tran said sitting close to me.

"So your telling me there's some snake orgy out in the jungle?" Cole exclaimed.

"Yeah. Something like that." Bill said. "Look, we're losing the light. All we gotta do is get to that village. So, please pay attention. Do not stray from the group." He said sternly. He looked down at me and gave me a half a smile. "Let's go." he said to everyone as we started back in the jungle.

We walked for only a little longer before we came to the village. The fog gave it such an eerie feel. Local statues were placed around the entrance of the village claiming territory. Tran walked in first with Bill and I behind him. Sam and everyone else trickled closely behind.

"Stay quiet. Sacred burial ground." Tran said as we passed a chest high platform full of human bones. Many other platforms were spread through out the village but mainly at the entry way.

As we walked to the main part of the village I gasped. There was no one present but there was a giant anaconda lying dead and gutted in the middle of the village. Where is was split open there were two human legs sticking out.

"Jesus." a lot of the group muttered under their breath. Not wanting to take a big breath because of the smell.

"I thought you said that anaconda was the biggest you'd ever seen." Sam said to Bill.

"It was." Bill nodded.

"Well, this one's-" Sam said.

"Bigger." I said as we all stared at the giant dead snake.

"The males must've come through here looking for the female." Tran said as he walked in front of us, going to look around the village. "I'll be right back."

"Some bullshit." Cole said softly. Bill led us to the river bank, we sat and waited for Tran to return.

"You okay babe?" Bill said as he sat next to me.

"As good as I can be." I said looking at the water. He nodded and placed his hand undermine to examine it on mine.

"How's the pain?" he asked.

"Noticeable but at the moment not unbearable." I said with a small smile. He gave me a reassuring smile back and stood up as he heard Tran coming.

"They're gone. They took their boats." Tran said as he jumped next to us from a level higher.

"Good for them. Bad for us." Bill said as he looked at the river before him. The river was a beautiful sight at this angle, the trees coming together almost as a frame. The water was so still.

"Which one is the Mendranang?" Jack asked as he walked over to Bill.

"On the right. The Tokut keeps to the left. Fastest way to Kotabaru." Tran answered him as we all gazed in silence at the beauty of the water.

"How long?" Gail asked with determination.

"You'll be soaking in a hot tub at the Four Seasons in two days." Bill said as he looked down at the river.

"How man? We don't even have a boat?" Cole asked, which was a great question, as I looked up at Bill.

"We're gonna build one." He said as he walked off. I got up and walked next to him.

"Hey, Hun?" I asked. He replied with a humph.

"What am I going to do, I have one hand?" I said. He turned and smirked.

"What ever you can babe. Just help out." he said as he walked back into the village.

"That doesn't help much." I muttered to myself.

"I heard that!" he yelled back still walking in the opposing direction. I rolled my eyes and began wrapping cloth around sticks to use as torches.


	19. Standing your ground

I had made plenty of torches for around the area we are going to be working in. We all took one and stood in a line lighting them. Everyone stuck them in the ground as a lighted way to work. I sat by and watched Bill, mainly, use his muscles and pull apart the villages houses.

"Man, do that in my neighborhood, and that's your ass." Cole said as he walked by Bill and Gordon. I couldn't help but laugh at his comment from my stupid rock. I felt so useless sitting here. Even Gail and Sam were helping demolish buildings. Kong came over and sat by me for a minute before going off to play with human skulls.

"Hey I'm going to go find some drinking water." I said as I got up. Everyone nodded too involved with their destruction. I walked off and found a fountain like thing that held fresh water in it. I smiled at my sudden finding but then frowned at how fast it had taken me. I walked over to an extra torch and lit it. I stabbed the earth next to the water.

"Water found!" I yelled to anyone paying attention. I got back a few muffled replies. I washed my face trying not to use my right hand. I moved my middle finger the wrong way and a surge of pain ran up my arm.

"Shit!" I said to myself.

"That's what you get for giving someone a shiner." Jack said as he walked over to the fountain. I sat near the torch by the fountain and began to unwrap my hand. Jack washed his face and hands. As he was about to say something, he got distracted by something on the fountain.

"I don't bloody believe it. Sam!" Jack said as he moved a branch out of the way. Sam walked over to him and knelt. "What does this look like to you?" he asked he showing her whatever was carved into the stone.

"My God. _Perrinia immortalis._" she said in shock grabbing Gordon's and Gail's attention. They all huddled around the fountain.

"Now we know why these snakes are so big." Jack said.

"What?" Sam asked too shock to register words right.

"Anacondas keep growing till they die, right? And these are the biggest Bill's ever seen." Jack explained.

"Because they're living longer." Sam said excited.

"Exactly. Because _Perrinia immortalis _is a part of the food chain. These snakes have transcended the Hay flick limit. The chemical in the orchid does exactly what we predicted. And not in theory but in the real world. This is proof Sam, of your research, carved in stone." Jack explained to Sam as she sat there grinning.

"This is proof?" Gail asked."It's anecdotal evidence at best." Jack stood up and Sam reluctantly followed.

"Let's get to the orchid and find out." Jack said in an almost challenging voice.

"You are out of your mind." Gail said back.

"Do you have any idea how close we are?" Jack said with confidence and walked off into the village. Sam followed him having renewed faith in the expedition. Gail and Gordon stood shaking there heads and finally followed them to see what Jack was saying. I was almost at the point of Gail's want to go home. I wanted a nice bath and a warm bed. Just Bill and I alone for a couple of days. I let out a wishful sigh and continued to unwrap my hand. When I got down to the last strand I let out a gasp and held my hand to the light. My hand was swollen and black. Literally black. It was definitely broken. I could hear Gail and Jack arguing on whether or not to continue the expedition. I rolled my eyes and stared at my hand in disbelief. I had never seen anything like this. My hand was two possibly three times its normal size. I could hear Sam standing up for herself, by herself, for the first time I met her. Genuinely standing her ground. I looked up and smiled through the bushes at her bravado. Of course Jack argued the point but she still stood her ground. Being in the wild made her toughen up a bit, I smiled knowing how fast you had to toughen up out here.


	20. Stories, Fluff, and workable rafts

I wrapped my hand as well as I could. I was actually needed to help guide the newly built raft onto the 'floatation devices.'

"Okay. Keep it high." I said as I walked backwards cradling my hand to my midsection. "Careful. Okay set it right here." I said motioning with my good hand to set it down. After that it was up to the few chosen people, Tran, Gail and Sam, to secure it to the devices with rope. Everyone else took a break. I saw Bill walk off towards the fresh water fountain, I followed him. He took off his shirt exposing his chiseled midsection and took out his knife. I hid behind a bush watching the light flicker off of his chest.

"You never were good at stalking me." he said, as he washed his face.

"Oh, shut up! You can just sense my presence." I said jokingly and walked next to him. He began shaving with his knife and nicked his face.

"You never were good at shaving without a mirror. Let me help you." I said as I walked in front of him taking the knife. I tried to grip the knife in my hurt hand and gasped in pain. He looked down and placed his knife in its holder and took my arm in his hands. He looked in my eyes as he unraveled the wrappings.

"Oh Jesus." he said as he looked down at it. He looked back up at my in worry. "You're not in pain?" he questioned.

"I never said I wasn't in pain, I just said it wasn't unbearable." I said as I looked away from his face and chest. He grabbed my chin and made me look back at him.

"Mitra, I'm so sorry I got you into this." He said with truth in his eyes.

"Bill, how many jobs have gone wrong while we've been together? How many times do I have to tell you, I'm here out of my own free will?" I said looking at him shaking my head a little with a smile. We went through this same thing every job that we did. He gave me a little smirk.

"Good point, you did show up and never leave." he said jokingly. I splashed some water on him as retaliation. He responded by giving one of his infamous bear hugs. He was such a large man in comparison to me I was almost engulfed in muscle. His bare chest rose lightly under my chin. I hugged him back being mindful of my broken hand as he kissed the top of my head.

"I'm still sorry though." he whispered.

"I know you are. That's what I love about you." I said muffled by his chest. He chuckled a little bit before letting me go.

"Let's get this re-wrapped. And no taking it off until we get you to a doctor." he said with a little sternness to his voice.

"Yes, Mr. Johnson." I said in a sarcastic voice. He smirked at me as he began gently wrapping the swollen bruised hand. Sam walked though the bushes and was startled to see us.

"Oh, hey sorry." she said as she began to walk away, like she had just walked in on an intimate moment.

"Hey, come back here. He's just wrapping up my hand." I said with a little amusement to my voice. I would love to have some alone time with Bill but not in the middle of the jungle with a group of people and hungry snakes out. She reluctantly walked back towards us. She reminded me of a small child, cautious and curious seeing Bill with his shirt off did have an effect on most women. I was just glad I was comfortable enough with Sam not to suspect her of any foul play.

"What do those mean?" she asked pointing to Bill's arm, as she leaned on the fountain next to me.

"That means 'a new beginning.' It's Korean." he replied still wrapping my hand. I missed laying in bed tracing his many tattoos as he slept, making him relax. "I got them when I was in the military." he continued to explain.

"What brought you here?" Sam asked him and looked at me as if she wanted to know my answer as well.

"Long story." Bill and I both said at the same time. Before I came along Bill was never this open with people. Well that's what Tran had told me. He once told me that I brought out a different, more calm, man then he was before.

"Where am I going to go?" Sam said smiling at the both if us.

"You go first." I said to Bill.

"All right. Here's the deal. I was in the Special Forces," he said a he finished wrapping my hand. He moved me and leaned against the stone statue. He grabbed my good arm and pulled me so there was about 2 feet in between us. I stood between his legs and started to feel like I was in high school again. The amount of closeness between two teenagers while at school had to be limited. Or at least easy to maneuver when the teachers would come around the corner. "And I saw and did things that I wanted to forget. Sometimes we do the wrong things for the right reasons, you know?" he said as he made eye contact with Sam. He looked back at me as he finished his sentence then back to Sam.

"That's not very long, as stories go." she said with sarcastic smile.

"Yeah. Well, I got out of the military, came here and bought the _Bloody Mary_. Just wanted to start a new life." he said.

"Then I came along a couple of years ago and made it exciting." I said jokingly. Sam laughed and Bill smirked at my remark. When it became silent, I realized Sam was waiting for my story. "Oh, I basically ran away from my parents while they were here on a business trip. They were your typical, I care more about work and had a kid to come between us, type of parents. Kong actually found me and led me to Bill." I said as I looked at Bill's intense dark eyes.

"Didn't your parents worry? Or look for you?" Sam asked.

"They did for a couple of months. I wrote them telling them of my new life and to leave me alone. I haven't heard from them since. And I know how bad this sounds but I don't miss them at all." I said finishing my story. The silence started to grow as my sentence was finished. A loud thunder clap ended the silence, making Sam and I jump.

"So much for good weather." I muttered. We all began to laugh despite ourselves.

"Well, I came over here to tell you guys that the raft is complete. Now we have to see if it floats." She said with a smile. We all got up and Bill put his shirt back on. We walked to the raft, I stood back and watched Cole, Tran, Sam, Gail, and Jack push the raft into the river.

"Ready on three." Bill said. " Ready? One, two, three." And they pushed the raft into the river.

"Yes!" I exclaimed when it didn't sink.

"It works!" Gail said with relief.

"All right." Sam said with a grin. Jack walked off to probably go check on Gordon and his jungle feet problem. We all stood there and enjoyed the view of the raft.


	21. What did you do?

**Oh hey guys. I forgot to ask you for a favor. Can you please go onto my profile and give your vote to my poll. Like I said this story is almost done and I'm looking for another to work on when I get this one is complete. Thanks guys! And keep up the reviews! :D **

I was once again rendered useless so I enjoyed the view of Bill flexing his muscles and helping put weights on the raft.

"Where's Mitchell?" Sam asked as Jack returned from his random excursion.

"Resting his feet." Jack said simply. I looked over at Sam and exchanged a look with her.

"Should I go get him?" She asked.

"No, no. Let him rest till we get loaded." he answered back a little to fast.

"Okay." she said before he continued on.

"Those blisters are pretty nasty." he said. After about thirty seconds Sam and I gave a curt nod to each other. She placed the pieces of wood she was holding and we snuck off to where Gordon was. Something was off about the way Jack was acting.

"Mitchell," Sam said as we reached the dry platform. "You okay?" He was sat up against one of the support beams. He didn't respond, his eyes were open and his mouth was parted but he said nothing.

"Mitchell?" I asked not used to using his last name. Sam and I knelt in front of him. He was trying to move his face to form words, but he couldn't make them come out.

"What is it?" Sam asked as he gurgled on some words. "Tell me." she said.

"Shit." I said under my breath as I noticed a bite mark on his arm. Without thinking I ran out of the dry cover to where Jack was, leaving Sam behind. I could hear her running behind me. I walked up to Jack and kicked him in the shin.

"What did you do?" I screamed at him as Bill and Tran pried me away from him.

"What did you do to him, Jack?" Sam said behind me much more calm.

"What is it?" Gail asked.

"He did something to Mitchell. Somethings wrong." Sam said standing in front of Jack. I had calmed down enough that Bill and Tran let me go.

"What are you talking about?" Jack asked innocently.

"You were in there alone with him. What did you do?" I yelled at him.

"He was resting his feet I didn't do anything." he said innocently again. Kong's screaming alerted us from Jack. We looked over to find Gordon's legs dangling from the ceiling of the last standing building in the village.

"Shit!" Bill said.

"Oh my God!" Sam and Gail said as we all ran to Gordon. When we reached the platform I ran into Bill at his sudden stop. Gordon's feet were last seen sticking out of an anaconda's mouth. Gail ran up beside us and screamed.

"Oh my God." Bill said under his breath. Sam ran behind Gail and tried to pull her away.

"Gail, no come on!" she yelled. I ran over and helped as much as I could to get Gail away from the scene of her lover being devoured.

"Get out! Get out! Go!" Bill said as he grabbed a torch. Tran ran over and grabbed Gail's arm and assisted her away as Bill lit the place on fire. We got back to the raft in time to see Jack sailing away on it.

"The raft!" Tran yelled in disbelief. I kicked a tree out of anger and sat on the ground. Gail sobbed for her lover and gone raft. Sam stood there in disbelief as well as Cole.

"No! You son of a bitch!" Cole yelled at the disappearing Jack.

"We can build another one." Sam said out of breath.

"With what? With what, Sam?" Cole yelled.

"We got to get to the raft. It's our only way out of here." Bill said.

"FYI, Bill, the raft is gone!" Cole yelled again.

"We can get it back." I said with determination.

"How? How? Huh? We gonna swim after it now?" Cole yelled.

"Look," I began and draw in the dirt, using it as a make shift map. "the village is here. Jack is following the Mendranang. We cut across the jungle. We can catch him on the other side."

"Right." Tran agreed.

"Catch him where?" Cole asked, exhausted.

"He's going after that damn orchid." Sam said.

"We find that flower, we find that raft." I said standing up. We stood in silence for a moment, before I led the way down the bank of the river and into the jungle with Bill and the others right behind me.


	22. Cole?

"Wait, wait. Listen." Bill said stopping our dwindling group. Since he had the machete he insisted on leading the group as usual. Tran followed closely behind with flash light. Then me, then Sam, then Gail and Cole. We listened to the jungle, waiting for it to call to us. We heard a slithering noise.

"Oh, shit! Come on!" Bill said signaling we needed to move, that an anaconda was near. We ran up a hill and continued to walk fast, almost running. We stopped when we heard the noise again. It was so dark outside, too dark with the full moon.

"It's in front of us." Sam said.

"Son of a bitch. It's trying to separate us." Bill said.

"It's toying with us." I stated in shock that this snake was this smart. Bill ran to the right of where we were going, we all followed not wanting to be a straggler.

"Oh, shit." Bill said again as the noise got louder and closer. We stopped for a second not sure where to go, or what to do.

"Oh, Christ! It's everywhere." Cole said flinging his flashlight everywhere.

"Turn that goddamn thing off." Gail said to Cole referring to his flashlight. Out of the two flashlights we had we give one to Cole.

"They cant see it." Cole said.

"It doesn't matter. They can sense our body heat." Tran said.

"He's right." Bill said. "Let's just get the hell out of here." Bill said running in a random direction again.

"I feel like I'm in a Predator movie." I said trying to lighten the mood that was unable to be lightened. I got a chuckle or two from the guys and that was about it. We continued on running though the jungle unknowing if we were running to or away from the anaconda. We kept running up hills and down hills until we literally fell down a hill. The entire group dropped down a recent mudslide, we toppled each other, screaming the whole way down into a muddy, wet cave. I went under the water. With the pure black night I couldn't find what way was up. The water couldn't have been this deep but you don't think logically when your stressed, hungry and confused.

"Mitra!" I heard Bill's muffled voice say as he lifted me out of the water. He began flashing the light on me then around the cave we were standing in.

"Which way?" Sam asked. I looked around it was a maze of cave tunnels.

"Hold on." Cole said trying to understand his surroundings. The noise from before got louder.

"Any way!" Bill said as he grabbed my hand and led us off into an entry way of tunnel.

"If there's a way in, there's a way out." Bill said as he looked around reassuringly.

"Guys!" we heard a muffled Cole yell. We all turned around and he wasn't there.

"Cole?" We all yelled.

"Which way?" he yelled back.

"Over here!" I yelled.

"All right. Say it again, say it again!" he yelled.

"Cole! Over here!" Sam yelled.

"Over here, Cole!" Gail yelled.

"Hello!" he yelled again a little closer.

"This way, Cole!" Tran yelled.

"Guys!" Cole said again more muffled than before.

"Cole!" Sam yelled again.

"I'm gonna go find him." Tran said as he parted from the group. We continued walking down the tunnel knowing Tran could find his way to us. We heard some screaming and hoped that Tran had found Cole.

"It's been to long." Bill said looking at me, after the screams. Worry evident on his face.

"Tran will be fine he knows his way." I said trying to be reassuring but I knew it had been way to long, and trying to reassure Bill was a ridiculous thought.

"I'm gonna go find him." Bill said as he started to walk away.

"Hey." I said grabbing his arm. "Don't walk off like that without saying something." he rolled his eyes at me and kissed my forehead.

"Continue going that direction, find a way out. I'll be right back." he said and then disappeared behind the corner.

"I can see light." Sam said as she found a smaller tunnel. I walked over to where herself and Gail were standing.

"Is it a way out?" Gail asked.

"I don't know." Sam said looking back at us.

"Well, should we try it, or wait for Bill to get back?" I asked.

"Why would we wait for Bill to come back?" Gail asked the stupid question.

"Because if it is a way out he wont be able to find us due to the fact we are in the said tunnel. Cole, Tran and himself will be unknowingly looking for a way out when we have already found one." I said trying to explain it like I would to a child.

"I think I found a way out." Sam said as she saw Bill coming back behind me. I turned to him and sorrow was plastered all over his face. He had come back alone.


	23. Sam with the Samurai Action!

"Where are the others?" I asked when he flashed the light up the smaller tunnel.

"Take this. Go. Now." he said handing Sam the flashlight. She started crawling into the tunnel, as soon as the flashlight hit her hand.

"Bill." I said as he was about to turn away.

"Go." he said with the same look in his eyes as before. _Oh, God. No! This couldn't be happening. Tran and Cole couldn't be dead. _"Go." he said. I started up the tunnel behind Gail. Bill than thankfully started crawling behind me. Crawling became more and more difficult with my hand. It hurt so bad I used my elbows to help guide me along.

"Help!" Cole's voice rang through the cave.

"Cole?" Bill said questioningly.

"Hey, right here!" Cole said.

"Almost there." I heard Sam say crawling closer to the exit.

"Holy Shit! Move it's coming up my ass!" we heard Cole say frantic. We sped up. "Help me! What did I do?" Cole kept yelling.

Finally we exited the tunnel Sam helped me out so I wouldn't fall on my hand. I spun around and watched Bill crawl out stabbing his machete into the ground next to the tunnel.

"Where's Cole?" Gail yelled waiting for him to pop out of the tunnel. Bill turned around to the tunnel. He peered in with the flashlight that Sam was shining down the tunnel. We could see Cole crawling as fast as he could towards us.

"Come on, Cole!" Bill yelled sticking his hand into the tunnel to help Cole out.

"Oh, God! I'm stuck!" he yelled as the started to pop out of the tunnel.

"Give me your-" Bill started as he grabbed his arm.

"I'm stuck! Pull me!" Cole screamed. "Oh, my God! It's coming! Let's go! Pull!" Gail and I began assisting in pulling him out of the tunnel. We finally pulled him out sending all of us to the ground. The snake popped out the hole hissing. Gail and Cole started screaming as I laid next to Bill. He put his arm to my side as a blockade in case the snake came after me. Next thing we know, we see Sam screaming and chopping off the anaconda's head with the machete. We all laid there and looked at her in a whole new light.

"That's what I'm talking about! That's what I'm talking about, Sam!" Cole said as he stood up. Bill moved his arm allowing me to get up. We all smiled and smirked at Sam's new bravado. "Oh, my God! You're the bomb, Sam! You Lorena Bobbitt-ed that ass!" We all got up to our feet, adrenaline coursing through everyone's veins. "How do you like her now, bitch?She sliced you, diced you, cut you up!" Cole continued. She gave Bill and I a weak laugh and a smirk. "It's like Sam with the Samurai action!" All of a sudden another anaconda came out of no where and bit into Cole's back pack, dragging him away. Gail stood screaming at the sudden action.

"Oh, hell no!" Bill said as he ran in the direction of the anaconda. Sam followed after him and I after her. I could hear Gail's struggle to breath behind me.

"Cole!" Bill said as we entered a clearing. "Cole!" Kong answered his call and Bill ran to another clearing, stopping when he saw the snake dangling on a tree branch coiling around Cole and the branch. Bill ran closer to the tree, grabbing his dagger he threw it hitting the snake directly in the head before it started devouring Cole. The snake slowly started to unravel, dropping Cole to the jungle floor. Bill ran to Cole, as well as Sam, Gail and I.

"Get up, Cole. Get up, man. Wake up, man." Bill said as he shook Cole. "Come on, man. Wake up!" Bill moved aside and let Gail and Sam kneel next to Cole.

"Cole. He's not breathing!" Sam said as she checked his pulse. "He's got a pulse."

"Give him air!" Gail said. Sam began CPR on Cole. "Again, again. Come on, wake up, don't you die!"

"Come on. No, no, no!" Sam said as she leaned her head to his chest. Bill and I stood there knowing it was best we stayed out of the way. Cole breathed in air, startling all of us. Bill and I knelt closer.

"What the fuck? Get it off me!" Cole screamed thinking the anaconda was still on him. We all grabbed him to contain his flailing limbs.

"No, no. it's okay! Its okay!" Gail said.

"Hey, listen. Its me. You're okay." Bill said as he grabbed his head and forced him to look at him.

"I'm okay?" Cole asked.

"Yeah." Bill said.

"You're okay." I said as Bill got up to retrieve his knife. Cole continued coughing and trying to regulate his breathing.

"Come on, we should get going." Bill said as Cole began to breath a bit better. We all nodded and helped Cole up. We walked a little further but not much. We came up to a cliff and peered over seeing Jack with a torch. He stood looking at the wall underneath us.

"Son of a bitch finally got his orchid." I said laying in between Gail and Sam.

"Yeah. He can have them. All I care about is that raft." Sam said.

"Let's go." Gail said. We snuck off into the night towards the river where the sweet, sweet raft was.


	24. Kaboom!

**This one is the last one until I come back from my 'vacation.' It'll be 4 days max so hang in there my loyal readers, it's almost done. :D Thanks again for reading and please review and go vote on my poll. XOXOXO**

When we reached the river bank and saw the raft none of us could contain our excitement. We all ran towards it.

"Oh, my God. Thank God." Gail said as she collapsed next to the raft. We looked around to see if we could find the materials we put on to the raft.

"I think I know what happened to Mitchell." Sam said, we all glanced at her as she held up the Laba Laba Batu spider from before. Jack appeared behind Sam from the jungle with a gun, almost as if on cue.

"I cant let you take that." Jack said. Everyone tensed at the sight of him. "You guys look like hell."

"You don't know what hell is." Gail remarked standing up.

"Oh, I'm sorry. But you gave me no choice." Jack said.

"Did you give Mitchell a choice before you killed him?" Sam asked with venom.

"I didn't kill Mitchell." Jack said.

"No, you just aided it along." I said.

"I saw the spider bite on his arm." Sam said. I saw Bill reach for his knife out of the corner of my eye.

"What was I suppose to do Sam?" Jack asked. "The right thing?"

"It's always a good place to start." Sam said. As soon as Jack noticed Bill and his reaching for his knife he shot him in the arm. Bill staggered back a little and the recovered. Blood began to seep through his dirty white shirt.

"Oh you bastard!" I said as I started towards him. He aimed the gun at me, stopping me in my tracks.

"Not so tough with a gun in your face now, are ya?" he stated as I glared daggers at him. "Let's not be stupid about this. Let's get to the flower, we can all go home."

Reluctantly we walked in a line to the orchid. Sam walked up front with a torch followed by Cole. Gail was next with another torch. Bill walked in front of me clutching his arm, trying to stop the bleeding. I cradled my arm hoping the pain would go away, at the very least decrease. Jack stood behind me with the gun aimed at the back of my head in case I tried something, or in case anyone else did. We made it to a ledge like area and stopped. Across from the cliff were the orchids. We all looked down to see the anaconda mating ball.

"Well this is perfect." I muttered sarcastically under my breath.

"The mating ball." Sam said with disgust. We heard a muffled thud and then a louder thud. We turned around to see that Jack had pistol whipped Bill, who now laid unconscious. Kong started screaming somewhere in the near jungle. Before I realized what was going on Jack had me in his one arm with the gun pointed at my head. He forced me to kneel in front of him with my hands on the back of my head, like I was being arrested.

"Give me the flare." he said to Gail. With the gun still pointed at my head, he took the torch and stuck it into the ground. He emptied out his back pack and threw some rope to Gail.

"Tie him up." he told her while motioning to Cole. When she just stood there he yelled, "NOW!" She obeyed. Jack walked over to Sam and grabbed the torch from her. He threw her the backpack.

"Fill it up." he said.

"You've gotta be kidding me." Sam said looking at Jack with his gun still pointed at me.

"Do I look like I'm kidding? Fill it up!" he said yelling at her. She put the backpack on and started to cry. She got up on the fallen tree trunk that acted as a bridge and began to walk to the other side. The tree moved a bit causing Sam to fall to her knees with a yelp. A thunder clap rang off in the distance.

"Get up!" Jack said impatiently. "Now get the flowers." he said with the same impatience as before when she had reached the other side of the gorge.

"Okay." Sam whispered back as she began to pluck the flowers from the vine and into the bag. As soon as it began to rain, Sam began to crawl back with the bag full of the orchids. The tree budged again, becoming loose by the falling rain. Sam began to scream as she looked at the mating ball below.

"Throw me the pack!" Jack said as he saw the bag fall off of Sam's shoulder to her hand.

"Drop the gun!" She yelled back, holding the bag over the mating ball. Jack fired a warning shot next to my legs causing me to jump in place.

"Throw me the pack." he said again. Sam threw the pack and began to slide of the tree trunk. Bill suddenly woke up and cold cocked Jack in the face causing the bag to fall to a lower level. Bill was still a little weak, dizzy, and having a hard time standing up.

"Get up, Bill! Get up!" Cole said as Jack got up and hit Bill who was still on the ground. Jack kicked him in the ribs. Cole kept telling Bill to get up and fight. I knew better than to get in the middle of a fight that Bill was involved in. In any condition. His pride, and concern about me when I would get caught in the crossfire was enough to stay away. Jack kicked Bill over to the edge of the cliff. Bill's head hanging over it. Jack prepared his arm for one last final punch when he stopped.

"Get up!" he yelled at Bill and picked him up throwing him next to me. I grabbed Bill's head and looked at his beaten face in my lap. He had a few scratches but nothing serious. I looked up to see Jack leading himself down the cliff. Gail and Cole were coaxing Sam along to get her to the other side. I looked back down at Bill. He had blacked out again. I looked at his gun shot wound, it didn't look to bad for being a gun shot wound. I couldn't wait to explain this to the hospital. Bill woke up and looked up at me.

"Where's Jack?" he asked.

"He went over the cliff after the flowers." I said. Bill got up and walked and crawled over to the edge of the cliff. I heard Bill trying to make Jack grab his hand. A splash signaled that Jack had fallen into the water below. I looked over to Sam and saw her fall off the log. I walked over to the edge next to Bill. I saw Sam dangling on a vine over the mating ball screaming her head off. The trunk gave way and Sam fell to the water below as well. We all screamed "NO!" as she fell into the water. She got out and continued to scream at the snakes slithering around her.

"Come on Sam!" I said as I saw her start climbing the wall.

"Come on!" Bill said holding his hand out to her. "Keep moving."

"Come on!" Cole said as he and Gail walked over to us. "Climb up that wall Sam! Keep coming." As soon as she was close enough Bill grabbed her arm and pulled her up, Gail and Cole pulled her the rest of the way out of the gorge. We all dragged Sam away from the cliff to look up and see and anaconda slithering its way out and toward us. We all let go of Sam as she got up and backed up towards the wall behind us, leaving all of us completely trapped.

"Oh shit, oh shit!" Cole and I kept repeating.

"Hey! Over here bitch!" Gail yelled as she held a gas can. The snake attacked the can sending Gail to the ground. Bill crawled over to the gun Jack had dropped and tried to shoot it, it clicked empty. Bill dropped the gun in defeat. With a sudden thought, I began a frantic search for the flair gun. When I found it I grabbed it. Walking over to the snake with as much courage I could muster I pulled the trigger. The flair lit up in the snakes mouth. It thrashed about falling back into the water below. As soon as we heard the splash a giant explosion from the gas can erupted. Sending the orchid wall into the water on the snakes. We all crawled over to the edge of the cliff and looked down to watch the last anaconda get smashed under a rock. I laid between Bill and Sam who was a foot away from me.

"Holy shit!" Bill said at the sight of the wall and the fallen anaconda's below. He started laughing which was contagious making us all laugh.

"Nice shot." he said wrapping his arm around me.

"What can I say? I learned from the best." I said as he kissed my forehead. We all rested on the cliff laughing at the entire situation.


	25. Grief in Times of Sorrow

**I know its a little longer than I promised (one day more but who's counting). Montana is a cold and frigged place with really shitty weather, dont drive up there in the winter... bad idea. Well, as promised here are the last two chapters of this story. Bittersweet having it end. Please review. :)**

After resting for a while we decided to walk down to the raft. We boiled some water with the pots we found, that Jack had stolen, so we could safely drink it later. Washing off the mud and blood off of ourselves in the river, we boarded the mini raft, taking all we needed for the two day or less journey. We drifted off on the river. I sat in front of Bill tending to his wounds the best I could. Gail and Cole sat on the opposing side and Sam sat in the corner next to me. Kong was standing on Gail's lap touching her face and neck.

"You two look like you made up." Cole said as he paddled the raft.

"He's not so bad." Gail said about the monkey.

"How's that?" I asked Bill as I motioned for Sam to help me tie the wrap.

"Much better." he said with a smirk. "I think I'll live."

"Good." I said. "It's kind of nice having you around." I smirked up at him. Sam exchanged a look with Cole and Gail about my sweet talk to Bill. I gave a low contained laugh.

"So how much further to my bath?" Gail asked.

"Kotabaru?" Bill questioned. "I'd say at least another day down river."

"Another day?" Cole exclaimed. "I'm not rowing another day, homeboy."

"All right." I said with a smirk as I turned around sitting on the edge of the raft next to Bill.

"Let's see we got this shortcut right up—" Bill said jokingly.

"NO!" We all exclaimed and chuckled.

"So did you really have seats between Spike and Woody?" I asked Cole as he set the paddle on the empty corner of the raft next to him. He sighed with a smirk.

"Close enough." he said. We all gave him fake frowns. We sailed down the river for a couple of hours discussing music, movies, sports, entertainment and places we've been. None of us wanted to face the fact of what had happened in the last couple of days, how many people had lost their lives, that their mission was a failure.

"Ooh, look a mango tree." I said a couple minutes after silence. The tree was a little off of the shore line, looking like a deacon of beauty.

"I guess we'll take a break here." Bill said as he grabbed the paddle and led them towards the shore. Everyone gave looks to each other.

"I want my bath." Gail said as the raft shook a little as it came in contact with the shore.

"I do too. But if we want to be alive by the time we get to town to take a bath we have to eat." I said as I got up and walked to the tree, Kong ran in front of me and up the tree. Everyone followed and we stood under the tree waiting for Kong to throw down some mango's. We caught a good bundle of mango's that Kong threw down and went back to the raft. Bill took out his knife and began carving into the mango's and handing them out.

"Oh, my God! These are amazing!" Sam said with her mouth full of mango. I smiled and nodded my head to her with my mouth full as well. The sweet nectar from the mango trickled down my throat. I realized how long it had been since any of us had eaten. We all looked up at each other with the realization and at a little slower, enjoying the taste of food. Since the gorge cave in incident my adrenaline had started to wear off. The pain from my hand was getting worse by the moment. I winced as I tried to move one of my fingers.

"Mitra?" Bill asked. I looked up at him to see concern on his face. I looked at my hand and back at him. He placed his knife down and moved a little closer to me. He felt my head and frowned a little. He grabbed my hand and started unwrapping my hand. "Shit" he said as he got down to the hand. I looked down it looked worse than before, I couldn't believe it was getting worse. The small wounds of split skin had become infected.

"Oh, damn!" Cole said as he saw my hand.

"Oh, my God!" Sam and Gail murmured.

"You're starting to get a fever." Bill said as he re-wrapped the for sure broken hand. "You need to rest or you're going to get sick and go into shock." he said as he grabbed a blanket that had been stored in Cole''s backpack. He set it down in front of me and in front of him. I laid down, using the blanket as a pillow. "I'll wake you up when we get there." He ran his hand through my hair as I fell asleep to Cole, Sam and Gail talking about my situation and my hand.

…...

I felt Bill pick me up and carefully carry me, struggling as I assumed he was carrying me off of the raft. I forced my eyes open and looked up at him, he was visibly worried.

"Cole! Dial this number." Bill said handing someone something.

"Another one of your friends?" Gail asked in a smart ass tone.

"Yeah, Tran's cousin." Bill said with a little bit of venom. My eyes refused to open all the way and shut immediately. I felt Bill's muscles move around me as he let out a sigh.

"Could you?" Bill asked, most likely the same person that he handed whatever to earlier. I opened my eye's to see Bill struggling to keep a payphone between his head and his shoulder.

"Bill." I said weakly.

"Uh, hey Langgeng. I need your help." Bill said into the phone.

"Yeah, I know. I have to talk to you as well but right now I need to get to the nearest hospital." Bill paused for a moment.

"Yeah. We had a hell of a last couple of days. Mitra's hurt bad. The people on the job we were on are sick." he paused for another moment feeling his muscles tense I knew exactly what Langgeng said.

"Lang... Lang... I'm so sorry... Tran's dead. I'll tell you about it, but right now I need you to come get us please." Bill pleaded. "Thanks, man see you in a minute. Sorry again man." Someone grabbed the phone from him.

"He'll be here in a few minutes." Bill said as he adjusted so he had a better grip on me. No one dared say anything to rebuttal his statement. I passed back out before I could try and saw Bill's name again.

…...

"Yes, we were in a boating accident along the Mendranang. We've been floating down the river on a raft in for the last couple of days." Bill explained to someone. I opened one eye to try and see what was going on. We were in the hospital.

"What's wrong with her?" the doc said in a thick Indonesian accent.

"She got into a fight with one of the crew after the accident. They disagreed on something or other." Bill said lying. _Of course he was lying. No one would believe them if we told them the truth. Who would believe in freakishly large snakes eating people and a flower that made them that way. _

"How long ago?" the doc asked as he felt my forehead.

"About a couple of days ago." Bill said.

"She punched the other person?" the doc asked as a rolling noise came close to me.

"Yes." Bill asked a little unsure.

"We need to get her in an examining room right now." the doc said to others. Bill set my down on a bed and was wheeled away as I blacked out.

…...

I woke up with a bright white light hitting my face. I felt so tired, yet I was waking up. I lifted my left hand to act as a shield from the light, well until my eyes got used to the light. I heard a soft mumble and looked down to my right. Bill was asleep with his arms wrapped beneath his head, next to my leg below my broken hand. My attention went to my heavily wrapped hand and part of my arm. It was in a hard cast, those kind that you get when your a little kid. I tried to move one of my fingers and still had a good amount of pain with it. I sighed and put my left hand down, my eyes now used to the light. I stretched my legs and felt relief as they stretched for the first time in... how long had I been asleep? My stretching caused Bill to wake up. He ran his hand over his face and looked at me with a big ol' smile.

"Hey beautiful." he said as he got up and kissed my forehead.

"Hey." I said a little weakly. My voice was a little hoarse. "How long have I been asleep?" I asked.

"About 36 hours, give or take a couple." he said as he pulled his chair closer to the bed and sat back down.

"Yeah, I remember bits and parts of getting here. Like the call to Lang, a little bit of the drive and you explaining to the doc." I said as a wave of emotions came over me. I look Bill in the eyes as if secretly asking him if all that happened. He squinted his eyes making him appear older and sadder. A single tear ran down my face before the waterfall came pouring down my face. Bill got up and sat next to me on the bed and wrapped his arm around my shoulders as I sobbed the death of Tran, our house, our possessions, our job. Basically everything was gone, save for Kong and the clothes we were wearing, and each other.


	26. Finale Lotus

I got out of the hospital a couple of days later. Sam, Gail and Cole visited before they went back to America. They stuck with the story Bill had said with the boat crashing off of a waterfall, loosing people to drowning and just the ways of the jungle. In reality none of them would have believed if someone came up to them and told them the horrors of what had happened. They all said they would be around for a couple of more days, in time for the memorial service that Langgeng and Bill had thought of while I was in my deep medicated sleep.

Bill was wheeling me out of the hospital, insisting upon me being wheeled out. The infection that the cuts on my knuckles hadn't gotten into my blood stream but it was well on its way to becoming irreversible. He wheeled me out to Langgeng's car waiting outside of the hospital doors with him inside. Bill and I got into the car and we drove to the edge of the river. The sun was setting as we got out of the car. We walked over to the river. Sam, Cole and Gail were all waiting there.

Langgeng took out a wicker basket from the back of his car and brought it over to where everyone was either hugging or shaking hellos. Inside the basket were pink lotus flowers. He brought over a sack full of candles and little raft like pieces of wood.

"Gesang and Mawar made these in honor of Uncle Tran. They made plenty so you may use them for your lost ones as well." Langgeng said as he handed out the raft sticks. Even though Tran wasnt really their uncle they were all the closest family they all had. They made the best of it.

"Thank you." everyone said under their breath. Sam, Cole and Gail seemed a little unsure on what to do so I showed them how to place the lotus on the raft and the candle in the middle of the lotus. We sat on the ban of the river and made our real floating candles for the ones we lost. We lit them and sent them down the river.

"Tidur di perdamaian, yang dicintai. Anda selama-lamanya akan dirindukan. Terima kasih karena melewatkan jiwa anda dengan us. di perdamaian." Langgeng said as we watched the candles float down the river. Everyone was crying, mostly silent small tears, but showing loss. Bill came up behind me, hugging me to him he rested his arms on my hips.

"I love you." he whispered in my ear, as I wiped the tears off of my face.

"I love you too." I said as Kong came out of no where and sat on Bill's shoulder. No one would admit it but no one thought of Jack, or sent out a lotus in sorrow for him.

We stood there until we could no longer see the candles flowing down the river.

**Hope you guys liked my ending to the story more than you liked the actual movie ending. The movie just left it off at too much of a cliff hanger, at least mine ends a little nicer. I couldn't find the lyrics to this song but it's the song played at the end of the movie. Its called _ChaPow! _By Blue Root. It's a short last chapter but I thought it would be appropriate to give you a break from that last long one. **

**Anyways I would like to thank my longtime readers X-JustALittleBitOdd-X and RWolfe94. You guys made this story get to the finish line. I would like to dedicate this story to them. I would also like to dedicate this chapter to the whole reason I went up to Montana in the first place. My brand new great niece Lotus Marie. **

**Thanks for reading! Please review one last time!**

**Oh and if you could not only be ever so nice and review but also go onto my profile and vote for what story I should write next I will love you forever!**

**And one last thing... **

**here is what Langgeng said as the lotus flowers drifted off down the river... **

"**Rest in peace, loved ones. You will forever be missed. Thank you for spending your lives with us. be at peace."**


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